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THE ARABIAN HORSE 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2009 with funding from 
 
 Boston Library Consortium IVIember Libraries 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/arabianhorsehiscOOtwee 
 
THE ARABIAN HORSE 
 
 HIS COUNTRY AND PEOPLE 
 
 WITH PORTRAITS OF TYPICAL OR FAMOUS ARABIANS 
 
 AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 ALSO 
 
 A MAP OF THE COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN HORSE, AND A DESCRIPTIVE 
 GLOSSARY OF ARABIC WORDS AND PROPER NAMES 
 
 BY 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL W. TWEEDIE, C.S.I. 
 
 FOR MANY YEARS H.B. M.'s CONSUL-GENERAL, BAGHDAD, AND POLITICAL RESIDENT FOR THE 
 GOVERNMENT OF INDIA IN TURKISH ARABIA 
 
 4>,'j-^ 
 
 
 WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS 
 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON 
 MDCCCXCIV 
 
 All Rishts reserved 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 A LOVE of horses, even when it does not help to originate the military 
 bent, seldom fails to be developed by active service. The Author of 
 this volume, when still very young, found himself in the thick of a campaign 
 which lasted for two years. In the harder half of that period, while the first 
 shock of the Sepoy Mutiny and War was being confronted, he was not a mounted 
 officer, but an ensign with a marching regiment. In India this makes little 
 difference, as there, even in British regiments, the infantry subaltern, scarcely less 
 than the cavalry and the staff officer, has his faithful horse as his partner in every 
 duty, except on parade and when the battalion is formed for action. During the 
 mid-day halt the shadow of the noble animal protects him from the sun's rays ; 
 and in cold wet nights, when riding round the pickets, he is often fain to thrust his 
 feet into his horse's armpits for warmth. Impressions stamped upon the mind in 
 this way have all the elements of permanence ; and the Author, when the episode 
 of the Mutiny was over, found himself an Arab as regards his love for horses. 
 
 Thus it came to pass, that when the changes and chances of official life 
 removed him, many years afterwards, from India to the homes and haunts of 
 the Arabs, one of his first thoughts was, that he would enjoy an opportunity of 
 observing whether the Arabian Horse rises or falls in estimation, when seen, 
 so to speak, through the eyes of the country which yields him. 
 
 The following pages have grown out of that idea. They were written at 
 Baghdad, between 1885 and 1891, in such intervals of leisure as consular duties 
 permitted. It is with the greatest diffidence that they are now offered to the 
 public. This feeling does not arise from any doubt regarding the interest which 
 surrounds the central figure. The Horse, according to a recent calculation, had, 
 up to 1887, "at least 3800 separate works" devoted to him in the various 
 
 b 
 
VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 languages of the civilised world.^ Europe, it is needless to notice, vies with Asia 
 in appreciating him. If, in the East, the " Lion of the Punjab " despatched 
 two military expeditions, and spent about ;^6,ooo,ooo sterling, to obtain posses- 
 sion of Laili,^ did not the son of Darius, in the West, when Bucephalas ^ died 
 at the age of 30, found the city of Bucephalia in his honour? In Christendom, 
 the idea of chivalry sets out with that of horsemanship ; the knight's spurs form 
 his essential badges ; and cavalry takes precedence of the other arms. There 
 are towns in England which have horses for their primary, and human beings 
 for their secondary, inhabitants. 
 
 The Author's misgivings in bringing out his volume relate to what may 
 be called its historical parts. It is not a book of the Arabian Horse only ; but, 
 as the title-page shows, of the Arabian Horse and his environment. The reasons 
 which necessitate this panoramic treatment are stated in the opening chapters. 
 The horse of the Bedouin Arabs holds so unique a place in natural history, and 
 enters so completely into the lives of those who breed him, that it is impossible 
 to describe him while adhering to the beaten track of works on horses. But one 
 who is writing on the classic ground of ancient Babylonia labours under at least 
 two disadvantages. In searching for historical standing -ground, he encounters 
 questions which have already been considered in Europe by trained investigators, 
 who live beside great libraries, and have made good use of them. And in 
 choosing and shaping the materials which lie more or less before him, he finds 
 it difficult to observe true proportions. In plainer language, there is a constant 
 temptation to make the most of the opportunity, and to introduce details and ac- 
 cessories which may be regarded by many in the light of encumbrances. 
 
 Even in Baghdad, the feeling was always present that European readers might 
 not relish too full accounts of Arabia and the Arabs. In busy Edinburgh, where 
 this Preface is written, it may be imagined how much more forcibly the same 
 apprehension presents itself. 
 
 But it is too late now for such reflections. Her Majesty the Queen-Empress 
 rules over about as many Muslim subjects as the Sultan of Turkey and the Shah of 
 Persia put together. Arabia is the " holy land," and Arabic the sacred language, of 
 all those masses. If our countrymen have not so far formed any very strong 
 desire to enlarge the area of their knowledge on Arabian topics, this book may 
 
 1 The Horse (in "Modern Science" series), by 
 W. H. Flower, C.B., LL.D., D.C.L., London, 1891 ; 
 in preface. At least eighty-six of the 3800 works 
 referred to are written in Arabic or Persian, and are 
 specially devoted to the Arabian variety. 
 
 ^ The sex of Laili varies in different accounts ; but 
 
 see the story of this animal's acquisition in Sir L. 
 Griffin's sketch of Ranjit Singh, in " Rulers of India " 
 series. 
 
 3 The name of Alexander's horse, we now know, 
 was Bucephalas, not Bucephalus, which was the name 
 of a famous breed of Thessaly. 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 stimulate the reader to take an interest in a nation which has made or moulded at 
 least 1300 years of Eastern history. 
 
 It may be well here to explain that the religion which is called in Arabia the 
 DInu 'l IslAm, and in Europe, not too correctly, Mohammedanism, is looked at in 
 the following pages, as far as possible, from the Arabian standpoint. Undoubtedly 
 the Arab Prophet, as his system grew, sought to make it universal.^ Under no 
 other view of his mission could he have claimed to be the Messenger of God, not 
 only to the Arabian tribes, but to the whole human family. Astounding progress, 
 we know, has been made towards the realisation of this conception. An eighth or 
 so of mankind now pray with the face turned towards Mecca. But this fact, how- 
 ever impressive, does not affect the essential truth that Muhammad was an Arab 
 speaking to Arabs. 
 
 Copious sources of information about the Dinu '1 Islam are open to English 
 readers. When learning revived in the sixteenth century, the great leaders of the 
 Reformation thought and wrote much on the subject of El Islam ; and the theories 
 which they propounded regarding it are not unrepresented in modern literature. 
 Goethe and Sprenger, and, later, Noldeke, Carlyle, and others, have severally ap- 
 plied newer methods to the study both of the faith and the man. Lastly, philosophic 
 Indians have written books on Islamism which are to the Arab religion \Nh3.t Roberi 
 Elsmere is to Christianity. The Arabs themselves have not as yet conceived the 
 idea of explaining away their ancient Semitic creed, so that it shall equally suit the 
 believer and the unbeliever ; and in the frequent references to their Faith which the 
 general subject of this volume necessitates, the statement of outstanding facts 
 forms the principal object. On the point of what Islamism is, and what it is not, 
 Al Kur-an, and the Prophet's authentic " Sayings," are the only witnesses which will 
 be cited. It is said that there are people who condemn all books in which they 
 find something different from that which they expect to find. But a very ordinary 
 amount of reflection will be sufficient to show, that he who approaches Arabian 
 subjects, on Arab soil, with an adequate command of Arabic, and in sympathy with 
 the Arabs, is likely, even though a European, to gather fresh materials. 
 
 If all who have aided the Author were here enumerated, the list would be 
 chiefly composed of persons who do not see European books, and do not know the 
 English language. But it is impossible to refrain from mentioning that, but for the 
 encouragement which has been given to this work, from its earliest stage onward, 
 by Mr William Blackwood, himself a genuine lover of horses, it would never have 
 been completed. 
 
 The most grateful acknowledgments are also due to Professor W. Robertson 
 
 ' Al Kur-an, Su-ra xxxviii. 87. 
 
viii PREFA CE. 
 
 Smith of Cambridge. One of the Author's first proceedings, after his return from 
 Baghdad, was to submit the completed manuscript to this most eminent scholar, and 
 solicit the favour of his reading it in proof. This request was willingly granted ; 
 and the result has been a great many valuable corrections and suggestions, not, of 
 course, on matters of opinion, but on points of Semite lore and scholarship. Doubt- 
 less, in spite of all help, and in spite of many years of honest labour, deficiencies 
 have to be admitted. How far these are to be held compensated for by the novel 
 circumstance that this book, like the subject of which it treats, is a product of 
 Arabia, others must be left to determine. 
 
 Edinburgh, ig^A yl/rtrc/i 1894. 
 
IX 
 
 METHOD OF 
 TRANSCRIPTION FROM ARABIC TO ROMAN LETTERS. 
 
 I. It is impossible to convey to those who have no ear-knowledge of a language a 
 correct idea of its pronunciation through the letters of another language ; therefore we 
 do not attempt too much in this direction. On the other hand, Arabic words will not be 
 written without reference to their Semitic forms. A middle course is aimed at ; and the 
 reader whose patience serves to carry him through the following explanations may, in the 
 case of most words, come near enough the right pronunciation. 
 
 II. In the 28 letters (all consonants) of the Arabic alphabet, there occur 2 forms of .S ; 2 
 of T, K, and H respectively ; and 4 of D, only one of which is our D, while the other 3 
 forms are variants ol D} All these several symbols, each of which bears for the Arabs its own 
 proper sound, are distinguished in European grammars by differently marked letters ; but we 
 stop short of this. 
 
 III. Next for notice are the 2 essentially Semitic letters £ («'/«) and ^ {ghain). The 
 former is a strengthened a, i, or u, according to the vowel-marks borne by it : shoi^t, when 07ily 
 the vowel-mark acts on it ; elongated, when preceded or followed by one of the three con- 
 sonants used by the Arabs to form their long vowels and diphthongs. This letter will be 
 written, when sJwrt, a', i', u\ as the case may be ; when elongated, a, i, A'? The other is 
 that father of gutturals which has been described as a grinding together in the throat of 
 Arabs of the Greek 7, the Northumbrian r, and the French r grasscye. A recent traveller 
 represents ^ by gli-r ; but gh contents us. As only the born Arab (and his camel) can utter 
 it, the equivalent used is immaterial. 
 
 ' Our C, G, P, Q, V, and X have no exactly corre- 
 spondent signs in Arabic. For C soft, S answers ; and 
 for C hard, K. Our G liard chiefly appears in the sound 
 given to J hy par exemple the Egyptians, who say ^a- 
 inal {Camelliis), not ja-tnat. The question of whether 
 the hard or the soft sound of y be the more primitive 
 is perhaps an open one. [In this book C and G are 
 but httle used in transcription, because of the double 
 sounds which belong to them : when, e.g., na-kib is 
 written na-cib, or Nejd, Negd, one reader will sound 
 
 the c as in cat, and another as in cityj one, the g as 
 in game, and another, as in gem^ X with Arabs is 
 /?■ followed by s, e.g. it:-sir — with the def. art. our 
 el-ixir (Gr. ^vptoy). The soft c/i (as in c/iop) of 
 Tui-kish and Persian is not Arabic ; but multitudes 
 of Arabs thus sound the weaker A", as chard for kaj-d. 
 ' These apostrophes are to be distinguished from 
 the similar marks which are used with words in 
 construction, and which indicate elisionj as baitu V 
 Amir=Jwiise oftJie Amir. 
 
TRANSCRIPTION FROM ARABIC TO ROMAN LETTERS. 
 
 IV. The foregoing remarks may be thus tabulated and supplemented : — 
 
 a} i, u, represent — (i) ivhen Jinmarkcd, merely the (short) vowel-signs (in Arabic not 
 
 letters at all), as in moral, pin, and pull. 
 
 (2) When capped thus '^, the elongated a, i, and 00 of father, intrigue, 
 and good respectively. 
 
 (3) When ticked off with an apostrophe {e.g., A'rab, I'rak, U'th-man), 
 the first of the two guttural letters (iinelongated') alluded to in par. III. supra. 
 
 (4) When thus distinguished by an apostrophe and also capped (e.g., 
 Fid-a'n, sha-i'r, Su-u'd), the same guttural lengthened ox made into a diphthong 
 through the action on it of a consonant. \_N.B. — With gutturals, i approxi- 
 mates to e, and u to ; e.g., I'rak may be written E'rak, and U'th-man, 
 O'th-man.] 
 
 as in aisle. 
 
 like in hozv. 
 
 as in English (or rather Italian). 
 
 is used in these pages indifferently for the 3 letters bracketed together in 
 
 par. II. snpra as lisping or aspirated variants of D. [The Turks, Persians, 
 
 and Indians pronounce all 3 as 3?[ 
 as in grey. 
 
 [Merely a speech-variant of the deep k\ as in gang. 
 As xxijonrney. 
 as in bone, 
 th, kh, sh, gJi, unseparated by a hyphen, represent in these pages — th, the Greek 6 ; kh, the 
 
 Scottish ch of loch; sh, the terminal sound \i\fish; gh [the guttural above 
 
 referred to as written by some gh-r'\ as in interjection vgli. 
 
 at, 
 an, 
 d, 
 dh. 
 
 e. 
 
 0, 
 
 After all, we shall leave on one side the above transliteration when pronunciation may 
 seem to be thereby aided — as by writing Ae-ni-sa for Fnaza ; and further, retain such familiar 
 forms as Yemen, Medina, Bedouin, Bussorah, Oman. The sole breach of the last - named 
 principle is Mu-ham-mad.^ Not even the classic authority of Washington Irving's Life of 
 Mahomet can reconcile us to a form which is but little in advance of Mawniet? " Muham- 
 mad " exactly reproduces the Arabic letters and vowel-marks. 
 
 1 Grammarians recognise the tendency equally of 
 a the vowel-mark {e.g., Najd) and a in words like at 
 the def. art. to iiidine to ej so that Najd may be 
 written Nejd, and al, &c., el. Indeed one oftener 
 sees El Emir than Al A-inir. 
 
 ^ This mode of separating foreign names into 
 syllables is intended as an aid to pronunciation ; 
 
 but it also follows the " shuttings-off," or truncations, 
 in the Arabic block of letters. The Arabs attach 
 much importance to the proper bringing out of syl- 
 lables : e.g., Kii-ran, for Kiir-An, is as unclerkly as 
 disease, for dis-ease, in English. 
 
 2 "A whining mammet." 
 
 — Romeo and Juliet. 
 
XI 
 
 LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS CONSULTED. 
 
 N.B. — hi footnote references, the titles of tJie folloiving zuorks xvill seldom be given, but merely 
 their numbers in this catalogue. 
 
 Works marked with an asterisk are those to ivliich the author Jiereby acknozvledges his 
 obligations. 
 
 1. Aide-de-Camp, The Griffin's. By Blunt 
 
 Spurs. 3d edit. Madras, i860. 
 
 2. *Arabia Deserta, Tr.wels in. By Charles 
 
 M. Doughty. 2 vols. Cambridge Univer- 
 sity Press, 1888. 
 
 3. Arabia, Diary of a Journey across, during 
 
 THE year 1 81 9. By Captain G. F. Sadlier, 
 H.M.'s 47th Regiment. (Compiled from 
 Records Bombay Govt. : 1866.) 
 
 4. Arabia, Gleanings from the Desert of. 
 
 By the late Major R. D. Upton, 9th Royal 
 Lancers. London, 1881. 
 
 5. Arabian Horses studied in their Native 
 
 Country in 1874 - 75. By the Same. 
 Fraser's Magazine, Sept. 1876. 
 
 6. Arabia, Newmarket and : An Examina- 
 
 tion of the Descent of Racers and 
 Coursers. By the Same. 1873. 
 
 7. Arabia, Narrative of a Year's Journey 
 
 through Central and Eastern (1862. 
 63). By William Giftord Palgrave, late of 
 the 8th Regt. Bombay N.I. Original 
 edit., 2 vols. 1865. 
 
 8. Arabum, Specimen Histori^e. Auctore Ed- 
 
 vardo Pocockio : accessit Historia Veterum 
 Arabum, ex Aboo'l Fe'da. Cura Antonii 
 Sylvestre de Sacy; edidit Josephus White. 
 Oxonii, mdcccvi. 
 
 9. Arabia, Travels through, and other 
 Countries in the East, performed by 
 M. Niebuhr. (Condensed English trans- 
 lation in 2 vols., by R. Heron — Edinburgh, 
 1792 — of the first 3 vols, of Niebuhr's 
 Narratives.) 
 
 ID. Bengal Sporting Magazine (J. H. Stoc- 
 queler). Calcutta, 1833 to 1846. 
 
 11. Blunt, Lady Anne: *Bedouin Tribes of 
 
 the Euphrates. Edited, with a Pre- 
 face, and some Account of the Arabs and 
 their Horses, by W. S. Blunt. 2 vols. 
 London : John Murray, 1S79. 
 
 12. Blunt, Lady Anne. *A Pilgrimage to 
 
 Nejd, the Cradle of the Arab Race. 
 2 vols. London : John Murray, 1881. 
 
 13. Blunt, Mr W. S. : The Thoroughbred 
 
 Horse — English and Arabian. Nitie- 
 teenth Century, Sept. 1880. 
 
 14. Blunt, Mr AV. S. : The Forthcoming Arab 
 
 Race at Newmarket. Nineteenth Cen- 
 tury, May 1884. 
 
 15. BURCKHARDT, J. L. : *NOTES ON THE BED- 
 
 OUINS AND Wahabys, collected during his 
 Travels in the East. 2 vols. London^ 
 1831. 
 
 16. Burckhardt, J. L. : *Travels in Arabia. 
 
 2 vols. London: H. Colburn, 1829. 
 
Xll 
 
 LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS CONSULTED. 
 
 17. Cavalry: Its History and Tactics. By 
 
 Capt. L. E. Nolan, 15th Hussars. 3d edit. 
 1S60. 
 
 18. El Kamsa (Al Kham-sa) : II cavallo Arabo 
 
 Puro Sangue : studio di sedici anni, in 
 Siria, Palestina, Egitto e nei Deserti dell' 
 Arabia ; di Carlo Guarmani di Livorno. 
 Traduzione dal manoscritto originale Fran- 
 cese del dottor Ansaldo Felleti di Bologna. 
 Bologna, 1864. 
 
 19. ^Encyclopaedia Britannica. 9th edit. 
 
 1875-1888. 
 
 20. Horse -Dealing in Syria, 1854. Two 
 
 Articles in Blackwood's Edhiburgh Maga- 
 zine, vol. Ixxxvi. 
 
 21. Horses, English and Eastern. By Sir F. 
 
 H. Doyle. Fortnightly Review, vol. xxix., 
 
 N.S. 
 
 22. Horse, Natural History of the. By 
 
 Lieut.-Col. C. Ham. Smith, forming vol. 
 xii. of the Naturalists' Library, edited by 
 Sir W. Jardine, Bart. Edinburgh, 1843. 
 
 23. Horses of the Sahara, and the Manners 
 
 OF the Desert, The. By E. Daumas. 
 With Commentaries by the Emir Abdel 
 Kader. Translated from the French by 
 James Hutton. London : W. H. Allen, 
 1863. 
 
 24. Horse, The History of the. By W. C. L. 
 
 Martin. London, 1845. 
 
 25. Horse, The Book of the. By S. Sidney. 
 
 London and New York : Cassell, Fetter, 
 & Galpin. 
 
 26. India Sporting Review, edited by "Abel 
 
 East." N.S. Calcutta, 1856 to 1857. 
 
 27. Itineraire de Jerusalem au Neged Sep- 
 
 tentrional. Par M. Guarmani. Extrait 
 du bulletin de la Socie'te' de Geographie. 
 (Nov. 1865.) 
 
 28. Journey to the Wahabee Capital of 
 
 Riyadh in Central Arabia, Report on 
 A. By Lieut-Col. L. Pelly, Political Resi- 
 dent Persian Gulf. Bombay (printed for 
 Govt), 1866. 
 
 29. *KuR-AN, Al. Medina, c. a.d. 635 et 650. 
 [Every Kur-an extant, no matter when copied 
 
 or printed, might properly bear the later 
 of the above two dates. There is nothing 
 to show that the Prophet made any pro- 
 vision for the handing down of his " revela- 
 tions " in a firm and solid form. He caused, 
 indeed, to be recorded, in Sfi-ras^ the 
 heart-moving words which came to him ; 
 but the freed slave Zaid who performed 
 this service observed no method. The 
 tablets which received the writings con- 
 sisted of flat stones, skins, the woody parts 
 of palm-branches, and the like.^ After the 
 Prophet's death, Zaid collected these liter- 
 ally " fugitive pieces," and made a fair copy. 
 This first transcript, traditionally known as 
 As Suhf, or The Leaves, was afterwards 
 destroyed, so as to give finality to a later 
 edition which was made, in U'th-man's 
 Caliphate, by Zaid and three associates. 
 It is known from a sure tradition that the 
 four men wrote exactly four copies ; and 
 all later manuscripts are reproductions of 
 this second redaction. The text thus 
 formed by the care of the Caliph U'th- 
 man was accepted at the time with won- 
 derful unanimity by those who had heard 
 the Kur-an from the mouth of the Prophet. 
 In our day, an eminent European critic 
 pronounces the opinion that it " contains 
 none but genuine elements — though some- 
 times in very strange order."] 
 
 30. Layard, Sir Henry : *Nineveh and its 
 
 Remains, by. 3d edit. 2 vols. 1849. 
 
 31. Layard, Sir Henry: *Discoveries in the 
 
 Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, with 
 Travels in Armenia, Kurd-istan, and 
 THE Desert. 1853. 
 
 ^ In late Hebrew, shil-rah means a series: or, a rozu 
 of stones in a building, whence a line of writing. Accord- 
 ingly, it is supposed by European investigators that Muham- 
 mad borrowed the term " Su-ra " from the Jewish parlance 
 of the period. If this be so, it is not surprising that the word 
 puzzled the old Muslim scholars. Even now many of their 
 successors exercise their ingenuity in finding Arabic roots 
 for it. But if the Arabs have the orthodoxy, the Germans 
 have the etymology. 
 
 The constituents of the written Kur-an appear in 114 
 
 Sii-ras, each of which bears its own title, generally one of 
 the leading words which occur in it. In translations, Sti-ra 
 is commonly rendered by "chapter." But it is only in part 
 that the division into SA-ras corresponds with the separate 
 "revelations"'; and in these pages we write, not Ch., but 
 S., for Su-ra. 
 
 ^ Many add the shoulder-blades {ak-tdf) of sheep to tliis 
 narration : and such have the support of the commenta- 
 tor Bu-kha-rJ (v. Ki-tdbu V tafstr, vol. v. p. 196, Egypt, 
 edit.) 
 
LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS CONSULTED. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 Layard, Sir Henry: Early Adventures 
 OF, IN Persia, Su-si-a-na, and Babylonia. 
 2 vols. 1887. 
 
 33. *Mad-du 'l Ka-iius (lit. Tide of the Ocean). 
 
 An English - Arabic Lexicon. By E. W. 
 Lane. London : Williams & Norgate, 
 1863-93. 
 
 34. Mesopotamia, Travels in. By J. S. Buck- 
 
 ingham. 2 vols. London : H. Colbmn, 
 1827. 
 
 35. *Mu-a'l-la-kat septem : Carmina antiquis- 
 
 sima Arabum. D. F. Aug. Arnold. Lip- 
 sise, 1850. {V. Index L, art. Mu-a'l-la- 
 
 KAT.) 
 
 2,6. Oriental Sporting Magazine (Bombay Pre- 
 
 37- 
 
 sidency). June 1828 to June 1833. Re- 
 print of 1S73. 2 vols. London: Henry 
 S. King. 
 
 Oriental Sporting Magazine (Calcutta). 
 Edited by "Raymond." December 1865 
 to December 1866. 
 
 38. Oriental Sporting Magazine (N.S.) Cal- 
 
 cutta. From Jan. 1868 to Dec. 1878 (soon 
 after which it ceased to exist). 
 
 39. Pure Saddle-Horses and how to Breed 
 
 them in Australia ; together with a 
 consideration of the History and 
 Merits of the English, Arab, Andalu- 
 siAN, and Australian Breeds of Horses. 
 By Edward M. Curr. Melbourne, 1863. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 BOOK FIRST. 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. PRELIMINARY, 
 
 II. DEFINITIONS, ..... 
 
 III. PENINSULAR ARABIA, .... 
 
 IV. EXODUSES OF BEDOUIN OUT OF NAJD, 
 
 V. ShA-MI'YA : OR DESERTS WEST THE EUPHRATES, 
 
 VI. AL JA-ZI-RA : OR DESERTS EAST THE EUPHRATES, 
 
 VII. EL I'RAK: or TIGRIS-LAND, . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 3 
 
 15 
 
 25 
 
 62 
 
 65 
 70 
 
 78 
 
 BOOK SECOND. 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 I. THE HORSEMAN MAKES THE HORSE, . 
 II. WHERE DID THE ARABS COME FROM ? 
 
 III. OF THE BEDOUIN AS HORSE-BREEDERS, 
 
 IV. HORSE-BREEDING AMONG THE SETTLED ARABS, 
 
 89 
 
 92 
 
 121 
 
 146 
 
 BOOK THIRD. 
 
 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 I. THE ARABS LOVE OF HIS HORSE, 
 IL FOREIGN ESTIMATES OF THE ARABIAN, 
 
 157 
 167 
 
XVI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 III. THE ARABIAN COMPARED WITH OTHER VARIETIES, IN RESPECT OF CONSTITU- 
 
 TION AND CHARACTER, ........ 
 
 IV. DEFECTS OF THE ARABIAN, . . . . 
 
 V. A SUMMARY, .......... 
 
 197 
 205 
 
 BOOK FOURTH. 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 I. ON THE ORIGIN OF THE ARABIAN BREED, . 
 II. THE TYPICAL ARABIAN, . . . . 
 
 III. THE ARABIAN IN ShA-MI-YA AND AL JA-Zl-RA, 
 
 IV. THE ARABIAN IN EL i'RAK AND EAST THE TIGRIS, 
 
 225 
 24s 
 269 
 
 277 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 L OF BUYING STRAIGHT FROM THE BEDOUIN, 
 
 II. OF BUYING IN ARABIAN AND I'RAKI TOWNS, 
 
 III. OF PROCURING THROUGH CONSULATES OR CONSULS, 
 
 IV. OF BUYING ARABIANS WHICH HAVE BEEN EXPORTED, 
 
 V. ON THE PROPER TREATMENT OF THE EXPORTED ARABIAN, 
 
 290 
 296 
 297 
 299 
 314 
 
 INDEXES. 
 
 INDEX 
 
 I. BEING A GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT TO ALL REFERENCES TO ARABIC 
 AND OTHER FOREIGN WORDS, ....... 
 
 II. INDEX OF SUBJECTS, ......... 
 
 325 
 401 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 HEAD OF THE AUTHOR'S G.A.H. " RA-SH1d," . . . . .On the Cover 
 
 From a sketch made from life by Mr R. Alexander, R.S.A., Edinburgh. 
 
 FULL-PAGE PICTURES. 
 
 H.H. AGHA khan's C.A.H. " SHAH-RUKH," ...... Frontispiece 
 
 From a portrait in oil presented to the author by H.H. Agha Sultan Muhammad Shah of Bombay, 
 the present head of the Agha Khan family. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 GROUP OF FOUR HORSEMEN, ........ QI 
 
 To illustrate the connection between different forms of horsemanship and different types of horses. 
 Nos. I and 4 are taken, by Messrs Longmans, Green, & Co.'s kind permission, from Richardson's Art 
 of Horsemanship ; and No. 2 from an old work, by Peters, on Equitation. 
 
 FACSIMILE OF A PEDIGREE RECEIVED WITH AN ARABIAN COLT, . . . 136 
 
 BAY ARABIAN HORSE, " CLAVERHOUSE," . . . . . • . 182 
 
 From a portrait in oil by the late Mr Roods. 
 
 GROUP, CONTAINING SEVEN STUDIES OF SELECTED ARABIANS, . . . 252 
 
 No. 2 is reproduced, by the obliging permission of Mr John Murray, from Bedouin Ti-ibes of the 
 Eziplirates, by Lady Anne Blunt; No. 3, by arrangement with Messrs Cassell & Co., Limited, from 
 Sidney's Boolt of the Horse; No. 6, by the obliging permission of Messrs Longmans, Green, & Co., 
 from Youatt on The Horse ; and No. 7, by arrangement with Messrs Routledge & Sons, Limited, from 
 Tlie Horse in ttie Stable and the Field, by Stonehenge. 
 
 DR JOHN COLIN CAMPBELL'S G.A.H. " GREYLEG," ...... 254 
 
 From a portrait in water-colour made at Bangalore. 
 
 GENERAL M. J. TURNBULL'S G.A.H. "HERMIT," ...... 256 
 
 From a portrait in oil painted for this work by Mrs TURNBULL, The Hermitage, Southwick, Sussex. 
 
 H.H. THE MAHARAJAH OF JODHPORE'S B.A.H. "REX," ..... 258 
 From a portrait in oil presented to the author by H.H. Jeswunt Singh, G.C.S.I., Maharajah of 
 Jodhpore. 
 
 AN ARAB HORSE-MART, BYCULLA, BOMBAY, ...... 3OO 
 
 From a photograph taken for this work. 
 
xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 THE BAY ARABIAN HORSE "EUCLID," ....... 309 
 
 From a portiait in oil by Mr James Clark, animal painter, London. 
 
 THE BAY ARABIAN HORSE " LANERCOST," . . . . . . 3IO 
 
 From a portrait in oil by tlie .same artist. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT. 
 
 SPECIMENS OF THE IMARKS WITH WHICH THE DESERT ARABS BRAND THEIR CAMELS, 67 
 
 THE author's FLYING CAMP BETWEEN SIN-JAr AND THE EUPHRATES, . . "JJ 
 
 From a sketch made locally. 
 
 IN THE author's GARDEN, BAGHDAD, . ... . . . .86 
 
 From a water-colour sketch by Mrs R. Bowman. 
 
 WILLIAM I. AND TONSTAIN, ........ 90 
 
 From an old book. 
 
 PORTRAIT OF A HACKNEY, ........ 90 
 
 From The Horse and the Hound, by Nimrod. (By the kind permission of Messrs A. & C. Black. ) 
 
 THE "NA'L," OR SHOE, OF THE SEMITES, . . . . . . -97 
 
 From a sl^etch made locally. 
 
 A LA BEDOUIN, .......... I39 
 
 From a sketch made locally. 
 
 THE BEDOUIN RIDING-HALTER, . . . . . ... . I40 
 
 From a sketch made locally. 
 
 THE BEDOUIN SADDLE, ........ I4I 
 
 From a drawing made for this work by Captain F. G. Maunsell, R. A. 
 
 THE BEDOUIN SPUR, ......... I42 
 
 From sketches made locally. 
 
 SADDLE OF THE TOWN ARABS AND THE KURDS, . . . • -147 
 
 From a drawing by Captain Maunsell. 
 
 STIRRUP OF THE TOWN ARABS, THE PERSIANS, AND THE KURDS, . . . 148 
 
 From a slvctch made locally. 
 
 ARAB horseman's BIT AND BRIDLE, . . . . . .151 
 
 From sketclies made locally. 
 
 A MOSQUE NEAR BAGHDAD, . . . . . . . . 154 
 
 From a water-colour sketch by Mrs R. Bowman. 
 
 THE ASIATIC HORSE-SHOE, . . . . . . . . . 180 
 
 From a sketch made locally. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xix 
 
 A HORSEMAN OF THE INDIAN IRREGULAR CAVALRY OF THE OLDEN TIME, . . l88 
 
 From an old book. 
 
 A PAIR OF CROOKED FORE-LEGS, ........ 200 
 
 From a sketch made locally. 
 
 HORSE-SHOE "TURNED UP" AT THE TOE, . . . . . . 20I 
 
 "central" HORSE-SHOE, ......... 202 
 
 A MODIFICATION OF THE "CENTRAL" HORSE-SHOE, ..... 203 
 
 A BIT ON THE TIGRIS, ......... 222 
 
 From a water-colour sketch by Mrs Bowman. 
 
 CENTAUR, . . . . . . . . . . . 238 
 
 From an old book. 
 
 B.A. HORSE, "AKBAR," ......... 257 
 
 AN INTERIOR IN BAGHDAD, . . . . . . . . 285 
 
 CAMEL HOWDAH USED BY THE BEDOUIN LADIES, . . . . . 32I 
 
 From a sketch in Sir H. A. 'Ls.j^txd.'^ Nineveh and its Remains. (By the kind permission of Mr John 
 Murray.) 
 
 MAP AND TABLES. 
 
 MAP OF THE COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN HORSE, . . . In pocket at end 
 
 A TABLE OF THE MAIN DIVISIONS AND SUBDIVISIONS OF THE AE-NI-ZA NATION, . 121 
 
 A TABLE OF THE FIVE [" AL KHAM-SA "] PRIMARY DIVISIONS OF THE PURE-BRED 
 
 HORSE STOCK OF THE DESERT, . . . . . . .235 
 
 A TABLE OF THE COLOURS PROPER TO ARABIAN HORSES — 
 
 A., COLOURS AKIN TO BAY, ........ 262 
 
 B., THE WHITE, GREY, AND ROAN COLOURS, . . . . . 263 
 
CORRIGENDA. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 19, line 27, fro "accepted there," lege here accepted. 
 
 32, f.n. I, line i„pro " Ar-Ri-adh," lege Ar Ri-adh. 
 
 84, f.n. I, heading Du-laim, /;'o "w. p. 135," lege v. p. 85 ; et, under heading Mun-ta-fik, /;-(? "7'. p. 135," 
 
 lege V. p. 85. 
 148, line 1 1, pro " khur-Jcn," lege khiirj-in. 
 198, in f.n. 2, pro " Stonehenge's Book of the Horse," lege The Horse in the Stable and tlie Field, by Stone- 
 
 henge. 
 254, inscription under full-page illustration, /;'<? "Collin," lege Colin. 
 256, n II II pro " Major-General M.," lege General M. J. 
 
BOOK FIRST 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN 
 
The Arabian Horse. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PRELIMINARY. 
 
 
 UR subject is the Horse of the land, not the land of the Horse; yet in 
 treating of the Arabian, the first step must be an attentive survey of the 
 soil which j'ields him. 
 
 " |^£ Mjo toill tije poet sec 
 JHust m tlje poet's rountrg bz," 
 
 says Goethe. For others than Arabs the Arabian horse is apt to be more a 
 creature of the imagination than of observation or experience. Even when one 
 thinks of specimens which have actually come before him, such may either not have 
 been strictly speaking Arabians, or, otherwise, Arabians of that high and typical 
 deeree of excellence which is not met with oftener than once or twice in a lifetime. 
 
 The farther afield we travel, the broader and firmer our view becomes of the 
 power or force of " the environment," especially climate, in moulding plants and 
 animals ; and considering how constantly this belief will keep showing itself in 
 these pages, it seems best to begin by stating it. The Eastern mind, as is well 
 known, has stood since time began till now at the stage when the abstract is lost 
 in the concrete. The Arabs, when they would speak of what we call " climatic con- 
 ditions," sum them up under the general name oi AL Md-e, or the water. Similarly 
 the Persians, and after them Indian Muslim, when they would talk of the same 
 occult agencies, set them all down to Ab iva Ha-wd — i.e., water and air; soil prob- 
 ably forming in their minds part of one and the same idea with the water which 
 dissolves it. Speaking of the skyey element in climate, when Count de Lagrange 
 
COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 named Foig a Ballagh's famous daughter " Fille de rair" he followed an idea which 
 runs through ancient poetry and mythology. According to the Grecian poets, 
 it was the wind that impregnated the mares of Thessaly — the cracks or " fliers " 
 of their epoch. Early Arabian tradition delights in the same fancy. The epithet 
 " daughters of the air " is said to have been applied by the Prophet Muhammad ^ 
 to certain highly vaunted mares. It is even fabled that the Most High, when, 
 before creating man out of wet earth, He willed that the horse should be, 
 commanded the south wind to condense itself; and on a handful of the plastic 
 matter thus obtained being presented to Him by the Spirit Jab-ra-il,^ or Jab-ril 
 • — angel of revelation of Kuranic story — made from it a dark bay or dark chest- 
 nut — in Arabic kii,-mait. Our only object in here introducing this very ancient 
 material is to illustrate the sure truth which appears in it, like one of those glimpses 
 of sound natural history in Aristotle and Pliny, that Heaven's free air forms a very 
 great factor in the development of vigorous animals. Horses which are bred upon 
 open plains will always be better travellers than stable-bred ones. With regard 
 to the element of water, the ground is not less sure. Among things that strike 
 us in the East, one is the stress which is laid by people everywhere on the 
 natural qualities of the water ; and another, their apathy about its being kept 
 from contamination. Good water, they seem to think, can never be turned into 
 bad, or bad into good, by anything that man or beast can do to it. Healing 
 springs are still resorted to as believingly as in the time of Naaman ^ the 
 Syrian leper ; and on water more perhaps than on any other element or agency 
 are thought by them to wait health and disease, longevity and premature decay, 
 
 1 The above reference to this greatest figure in 
 Arabian history may be taken advantage of to ex- 
 plain the sense in which he is a " Prophet." Not 
 confined to our day, but on the contrary very ancient, 
 is the conception associzting the /ore/eik'u£- qf events 
 with the prophetic voice ; but in speaking of Muham- 
 mad, this idea has to be discarded ; Al Is-LAM is never 
 tired of inculcating that ike future is k7io'wn to God 
 only; and no Arab will so much as say in the morning 
 that it will rain before night. The two Kuranic terms 
 translated Prophet are Na-bi and Ra-siil. Both words 
 were fixed in Arabic long before the Kur-an, with 
 practically the same signification : ra-sill, oiie who 
 carries on by consecutive progressions the relation of 
 the tidings of liiin who has sent him — i. e., our 
 apostle J na-bi (in Arabia, whatever it may have 
 meant in Canaan, and afterwards in the religion of 
 Israel), one who informs others, or perhaps one who 
 is himself informed, respectitig the Divine. And 
 as showing how in these days knowledge is ad- 
 vancing, we obser\'e an eminent Scottish theologian 
 
 teaching that in this sense Muhammad was a Prophet. 
 " Certainl)'," writes Professor Marcus Dods, D.D., in 
 Muhammad, Buddha, a?id Christ, p. 17, "he had two 
 of the most important characteristics of the prophetic 
 order. He saw truth about God which his fellow-men 
 did not see ; and he had an irresistible inward impulse 
 to publish this truth." 
 
 ^ The Biblical " Gabriel" — in Hebrew, Gods man. 
 Muslim believe that in the "Night of Power" — the 
 night of the month Ra-ma-dhan in which Muhammad 
 received his first " revelations " — the whole body of 
 the " eternal and uncreated " Kur-an was miraculously 
 injected, straight from the " sacred tablet " in the 
 seventh or highest heaven hard by God's throne, into 
 the heart of this chief of the angelic hierarchy, for 
 enunciation to the Prophet as occasion required, from 
 out the lowest heavenly vault. Yet further eminence 
 belongs to Jab-ra-il as the " Holy Spirit," or " Spirit 
 of Truth," of Al Kur-an. 
 
 5 The name Na'-man is common among Arabs 
 still. 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 PRELIMINARY. 
 
 fecundity and barrenness, comeliness of form and feature and sallow skinniness.^ 
 Supposing the Arabs ever to grow civilised enough to take up horse-breeding 
 on stud -farm principles, the first thing which they would look for, in selecting 
 runs or sites, would be what they call "strong water "^ — that is, water proved 
 by experience to favour animal growth. Our readers may consider this view too 
 fully established to require illustration ; but the mention of it recalls how remark- 
 ably, in the course of a journey of over two thousand miles, made in 1886-87 
 across the great river- valleys of the Tigris and the Euphrates, the horses and 
 mules improved during halts in some localities more than in others. One such spot 
 was Sin-jar, now an Ottoman station, as of old a Roman outpost, holding in check 
 the Sin-jar mountains, by which the steppe between the middle reaches of the two 
 rivers is divided into a northern and southern portion. On encamping beside the 
 town or ba-Iad, the capital a thousand years ago of a prosperous Arab principality, 
 but now dwindled to at most two hundred houses, the animals seemed almost 
 exhausted. Sin-jar afforded them no luxuries; no shelter from the January blasts; 
 nothing but the stony ground to lie on ; no green food or carrots ; only the inva- 
 riable chopped straw and barley, with water in abundance. Yet it was amazing 
 how they recovered. We had taken with us several valuable, or at all events 
 highly valued, desert colts, merely to keep them moving, and favour their grow- 
 ing into horses of note. These in particular, after a fortnight of Sin-jar, looked 
 new creatures : never before or afterwards did they appear so promising as on the 
 winter morning when their Arab grooms rode them with us out of Sin-jar. The 
 virtues of the ground were attributed by the dwellers on it to its water, drawn 
 chiefly from champagne-like brooks, which, after issuing out of springs and water- 
 ing a few miles of cultivation, lost themselves in the thirsty soil. The men and 
 women of Sin-jar, though living on poverty's brink, and not unacquainted with 
 starvation, bore witness equally with their cattle to the excellence of its climate. 
 Most of the inhabitants are Kurds ; and the traveller has uncommon opportunities 
 of admiring their physique, owing to the unconcerned manner in which their 
 wives and daughters strip to bathe by the margin of their little river. Nothing 
 could be more Arcadian, or at the same time chaster, than the method of their 
 ablutions ; their radiant black tresses forming, in the postures which the nymphs 
 assume while they pour the water over one another with cups, far more modest 
 
 ^ Easterns send as far for water as English- 
 men for wine or brandy. Herodotus relates how 
 Persian monarchs, wherever they went, would keep 
 themselves supphed through couriers with draughts 
 from the Choaspes, perhaps the modern Karkha, 
 western boundary of Persia ; Burckhardt, how JMe- 
 hemet A'li, in his campaigns in Arabia, had water 
 
 from the Nile delivered daily at his tent. The 
 princes and nobles of India maintain the same 
 wholesome practice. To all this the West, as usual, 
 abounds in contrasts. Once we heard a young gen- 
 tleman fresh from Rugby say that water was meant 
 only to wash in ! 
 
COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 drapings than the bathing- - dresses and transparencies of later stages of civi- 
 lisation.^ A large house overhangs the part of the stream resorted to ; while, 
 skirting the spot, and leading across the river, is one of the approaches to the 
 town. But the bathers show the finest unconsciousness ; nor do others notice 
 them any more than if they were water-hens.^ Turks and Persians new to Kurdt 
 and Ya-zi-di manners, when they come on such a tableau, exclaim, " Out upon 
 the ka-firs ! " An old-school Pasha sent to govern Sin-jar would, we make no 
 doubt, if he did not empty the town the sooner, "civilise" its ladies with whip 
 and slipper. But even in Turkey the times grow easier. The present Sin-jar 
 governor has found out a better system — when he passes he looks another way.^ 
 Sin-jar, though familiar ground to Arab nomads, is reckonable not to Arabia 
 but to " Mesopotamia," a term which will be spoken of further on. The reader 
 will not, therefore, place to the credit of Arabia the happy effect on animal life 
 of the Sin-jar climate ; that having merely been noticed by way of showing how, 
 in the East as well as in the West, soils and waters favourable to horses often 
 run conterminous with others the reverse. The climate of Arabia proper, while 
 improving, naturally, as one rises higher above the sea, is on the whole remarkable 
 for its intensity. Hence the force and clearness with which its physical features 
 reflect themselves in its characteristics. 
 
 " 'Tis the hard grey weather 
 Breeds hard Enghshmen," 
 
 says Kingsley. Similarly in Arabia do even its institutions, not excepting its 
 religion, certainly, too, its history, and most of all its living creatures, speak to us 
 
 "■ Nature's crowning the human head, especially in 
 females, with a covering capable of being let down to 
 form a canopy, is very wonderful. Without going 
 back to Eve, who, if she had been thus equipped, 
 would not have needed a leafy cincture, wherever we 
 look, outside of civilisation, we see the same ampli- 
 tude of natural drapery in woman. Among Sir H. 
 Rawlinson's Cabul ?iotanda (1838-40) was a ka-fir 
 slave from the pagan land north of Afghan-istan, who, 
 "by loosening her golden hair, could cover herself 
 completely from head to foot as with a veil." — (Ency. 
 Brit.., 9th edit, vol. xiii. p. S22.) An Arabian writer, 
 describing a sleeping beauty wrapped in her tresses, 
 uses the same word as he would have done for wrapped 
 in a blmiket. In the lower animals, we know, long- 
 haired equally with short-haired breeds are produc- 
 ible. Yet even in their case the tendency of "high 
 breeding" is to thin the hairy covering. Just as cer- 
 tainly in the human species decadence of the hair 
 waits on civilisation. If Ka-fir, Kurdi, or paysanne 
 from Southern France were to be transplanted to a 
 
 European capital, all its hairdi-essers, brushes and 
 combs and unguents, would hardly save her children 
 from having to eke out Nature's failing bounties with 
 "combings" and "raw material" brought from vari- 
 ous quarters. 
 
 ^ The reader who is interested in the manners of 
 different countries at different periods may compare, 
 or contrast, with the above description the observa- 
 tions of an English traveller in Mid-Lothian in 1704; 
 an exti^act from whose Tour was published in one 
 of the earliest numbers of ' Blackwood's Magazine ' 
 (February 1818). 
 
 ^ Between our visit and those of Layard (1843 and 
 1850), Sin-jar, we believe, had seen no European. In 
 1838, Mr Forbes, Bomb. Med. Staff, explored it, and 
 in 1816 Mr J. S. Buckingham. V. in Jou7: Roy. 
 Geograph. Soc, vol. ix. Part iii., former's "Visit to 
 the Sin-jar Hills, with some Account of the Sect of 
 Ya-zi-dis ; " and in op. cit., in Catalog. No. 30, vol. i., 
 lattefs narrative. Dr E. A. W. Budge of the British 
 Museum has been there more recently. 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 PRELIMINARY. 
 
 of its alternating droughts and tornadoes ; simooms and upland breezes ; burning 
 sands and juicy pastures. And here occur two views of Arabia and the Ara- 
 bian horse which, before setting out on the geographical survey next awaiting 
 us, it may be useful to consider. One is the claim often put forward on behalf 
 of Arabia to be regarded as the primeval habitat of the Horse; the other, the 
 common idea of the same country being rich in horses. First, let us speak 
 of the probability, or possibility, of Arabia's ever having contained wild horses. 
 To do the Arabs justice, this is not their idea. The paternity of it belongs 
 to Europeans, beginning probably with the imaginative Buffon, and brought 
 down to date by Mr Blunt. On the one hand, the great French naturalist 
 pictured to himself the boundless spaces of Araby, and the perfection to which 
 the horse had been brought there : on the other, he saw a gregarious creature, 
 full of dlan and velocity, and chiefly dependent for safety on speed, as evinced 
 by his sonorous and expressive voice, and his hatred of being left alone, by 
 his power of covering great distances, and by the incredibly short period in 
 which the newly dropped foal is able to scour along after its dam. And so, 
 without dwelling on details like food and water, the conclusion was come to that 
 the one had been made by Nature for the other. Alas for the theories of stay-at- 
 home philosophers! An unkempt Arab who once piloted us from Bussorah to Al 
 Ha-sa knew better. For w^hen a baggage-pony had been lost, and the question 
 of wild horses thus came up, his idea was that horses divorced from man could 
 not live in the country of the Arabs, unless able to draw water for themselves 
 from deep wells, and lay in fodder as the Bedouin does dates. How this may have 
 been in remoter periods, when the geological formation of Arabia may have been 
 different from now, it does not concern us to conjecture. Here we content ourselves 
 with noting that not only has no living explorer, or any one who has left a book of 
 travels, ever seen or heard of a wild horse in Arabia,^ but even the Tigris and 
 Euphrates valleys are devoid of those "mobs" of feral horses so numerous in Aus- 
 tralia and S. America, which, though at the most only reversions, are sometimes 
 mistaken ior ferce natui'cs. In regard to Mr Blunt, mentioned above as favouring 
 Buffon's theory, it is but fair to add that the facts last glanced at arrested his 
 attention, and that of the Lady Anne, during their travels. Mr Blunt, in the 
 chapter on horses which is contributed by him to Bedouin Tribes of the E^iphi^ates^ 
 is "content with accepting the usual belief that Arabia was one of the countries 
 where the horse was originally found in his wild state, and where he was first caught 
 and tamed." But he qualifies this statement by explaining that by Arabia he would 
 
 1 " That horses are to be found in a wild state in 
 the deserts of Arabia is a fallacy. I never heard of 
 such a thing hinted at in the desert." — Major Upton, 
 
 op. cit. in Catalog. No. 4, p. 273. 
 2 Vol. ii. p. 245. 
 
8 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. book i. 
 
 not imply peninstdar Arabia ; which he truly describes as unsuited to the horse in 
 his natural condition, owing to scarcity of water and pasture. Unable to lose hold 
 of a conclusion supporting the idea of the Arabian forming the progenitor of all 
 the horses in the world, Mr Blunt then informs us that " in Mesopotamia and the 
 great pastoral districts bordering on the Euphrates, where water is abundant and 
 pasture perennial," the " original stock " must once have roamed, and " the wild horse 
 been captured, just as in the present day the wild ass is captured and taken thence 
 by man to people \_sic\ the peninsula." This view, especially as held to be con- 
 firmed by the habit of the wild ass, will meet us again. It may not be so impossible 
 as the theory which supposes wild horses to have existed In the inaccessible heart of 
 Arabia. But that Mr Blunt himself was but half satisfied with it appears from his 
 subsequently returning to his first and favourite standpoint. In a second journey, 
 the outcome of which was A Pilgrimage to Najd, by Lady A. Blunt, on finding in 
 the red sand, "quite one hundred miles from any spring," tracks of the antelope, 
 which the Arabs, by the way, affirm needs no water, also signs of the wolf, fox, and 
 hyaena, Mr Blunt makes the observation, in an addendum contributed by him to the 
 record, that the " ancient tradition of a wild horse having been found " in Central 
 Arabia "may not be so improbable as at first sight it seems." He at the same 
 time disposes of the food question by remarking that " there is certainly pasture, 
 and good pasture, in every part of" certain valleys which he indicates. While, when 
 it comes to water, the height of the argument is reached ; the fact, if fact it be, of 
 the sheep of Najd needing water but once a-month is cited, and the conjecture 
 hazarded that the horse of the same country "may have required no more."^ 
 One who can imagine this can imagine anything. Among the points lessening 
 the horse's usefulness is his losing so much moisture through the skin, and requiring 
 in consequence such frequent draughts of water. Of all the cattle used by the 
 Arabs he is the most impatient of thirst — a character evidently depending on 
 natural habit, not subjugation, and indeed going far to prove him the native of a 
 different clime. Even crossing between his species and the asinine, while rendering 
 the progeny hardier, does not make it more independent of water. 
 
 Passing next to the view of Arabia forming naturally a nursery of horses, all 
 the facts available will be stated with reference to each division as we proceed. 
 But looking at the country as a whole, let us understand at starting that only an 
 Eastern poet could style it fertile. Nothing like a third of its surface is cultivable 
 without irrigation ; the task of extending which, outside of valleys and natural 
 oases, probably is beyond the power of Turk or Arab. Vast spaces of unchanging 
 and unchangeable plutonic barrenness spread themselves over it. Joining themselves 
 
 1 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 12, vol. ii. p. 249. 
 
CHAP. I. PRELIMINARY. 9 
 
 to these are larger and scarce less dreary regions, occupied by precipitous frowning 
 mountains, accessible only to the goat ; by unwatered tracts of stony nakedness ; 
 by labyrinthine, sandy ravines or gorges, bearing only the hardiest shrubs ; and by 
 tepid, cultivated palm-oases, thick with semi-tropical vegetation. Even in its best 
 parts, if we except the coffee-yielding Yemen, pasturage distributes itself grudgingly ; 
 aridity everywhere dogs the heels of fertility. Worst of all, perhaps, for horse- 
 breeders, the mountains of Arabia proper do not collect sufficient water to send out 
 of its vast central plateaus one perennial river, whether to the Red Sea, the Gulf of 
 Persia, or the Indian Ocean. A travelled wiseacre once remarked on the habit of 
 rivers to turn towards cities ! But if one were to say of nomadic horse-breeders that 
 wherever the circuit of their migrations has not been traversed by a river, they have, 
 opportunity serving, exchanged it for a watered territory, Arabian history would 
 bear out the statement. It is the same all over the world. In the country of the 
 Oxus — as many believe the primeval home of the Horse; in England, India, and 
 America ; in the Orange River State in South Africa ; and in Australasia, — it is to 
 be desired above all things by horse-breeders that a never-failing river should run 
 through their pastures.^ Such being the physical features of the Arab peninsula, 
 there is little wonder that at the first sight of it our countrymen ask themselves 
 where and by whom its far-famed coursers can be bred. The clearing up of 
 this "mystery of horse-breeding in Central Arabia," as Mr Blunt calls it,- ranks 
 among the objects proposed in this chapter and the next. One difficulty is on 
 the surface, and that is the getting at, even approximately, the actual yield of 
 horses in past and present times in the country indicated. Here we quote from 
 Burckhardt (1784-1817), the traveller sharing with Carsten NIebuhr (1733-1815) 
 the merit of opening up Arabia to Europeans : — 
 
 " It is a general but erroneous opinion that Arabia is very rich in horses ; but the breed is 
 limited to the extent of fertile pasture-grounds in that country, and it is in such parts only that 
 horses thrive, while those Bedouins who occupy districts of poor soil rarely possess horses. It 
 is found, accordingly, that the tribes most rich in horses are those who dwell in the compara- 
 tively fertile plains of Mesopotamia, on the banks of the river Euphrates, and in the Syrian 
 plains. Horses can there feed for several of the spring months upon the green grass and herbs 
 produced by the rains in the valleys and fertile grounds, and such food seems absolutely 
 necessary for promoting the full growth and vigour of the horse. We find that in Najd 
 horses are not nearly so numerous as in the countries before mentioned, and they become 
 scarce in proportion as we proceed towards the south." ^ 
 
 ' And not only that, but, confirming the remarks 
 already made as to water, experience teaches that 
 all rivers are not alike. " The best of our horses in 
 proportion to his figure," says an Australian writer, 
 " the most abstemious, stout, and sound, and the most 
 neglected in his breeding, drinks of the waters that 
 flow into Lake Alexandrina — that is, the horses bred 
 
 on the rivers Dariing, Lachlan, Bogan, Murrumbidgee, 
 and other tributaries of the Murray, after they leave 
 the mountains, and before the Murray approaches the 
 sea." — Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 39, p. 174. 
 
 2 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 12, vol. i. p. 158. 
 
 ^ Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 15, vol. ii. pp. 50, 51. 
 
lo COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. book i. 
 
 The soundness of the above is not to be disputed. It stands to reason 
 that the same physical causes which have kept back the Arab people have pre- 
 vented the multiplication and distribution of the Horse among them beyond a 
 certain point. But it has to be remembered of Burckhardt that, though able, 
 from his command of Arabic, and his painstaking philosophical habit, to inquire suc- 
 cessfully on any topic, his actual travels, so far as his published journals show, 
 carried him no farther in the direction of Central Arabia than about three hundred 
 miles inland from the Red Sea. If he had seen one of the warlike clans of the 
 interior, like the Im-tair or U'tai-ba, mustering its chivalry, the number of their 
 mares would probably have exceeded by ten or twenty times what the accounts of 
 Yam-bla' and Medina townsmen had prepared him for. Starvation is the same 
 thing everywhere ; all the world over, drought and aridity, equally with their 
 opposites, produce their inherent effects on plants and animals. And yet Nature's 
 laws are not so fixed as to be beyond the modifying or controlling power of 
 circumstances. Accordingly, horse-breeding is not the same thing everywhere. In 
 cities, given the necessary skill and capital, and it may proceed pretty much alike 
 in one quarter of the world as in another — just as pheasants may be reared in cellars, 
 or salmon in fish-ponds. Among soil-bound rural populations again, the same art, 
 as seen above, has Its localities assigned to it, and its results determined, in part 
 by climate. But no sooner is it taken up by nomads than its conditions alter. 
 Followers of the robust pastoral life are not to be stopped by a bad season. One 
 set of wells or pastures failing them, they have but to move off with their flocks and 
 herds in search of others. The bearing of this view on the horse-producing capa- 
 bilities of Arabia is evident. Akin to it is the power which the horse, like so many 
 other animals, possesses of adapting himself to new foods. Even his love of corn, 
 let us bear in mind, comes to him as an acquired taste. His every feature speaks 
 of a grazing, not granivorous, habit. Look at his mouth — what machine could shave 
 earth's surface closer than his trenchant nippers ! Not the most delicate leaf or seed 
 escapes his prehensile upper lip ; which may sometimes be seen long enough to 
 suggest a rudimentary trunk — one fact more for Darwinism. In two desert paragons 
 sent a few years ago through Baghdad to Bombay, this peculiarity was so marked 
 as greatly to interest the Surgeon of the British Consulate. One of them especially, 
 when he spied a green tuft behind a stone, would curl his snout round it, pre- 
 cisely as his brother pachyderm would his more perfected proboscis. We never 
 learned whether he proved a race-horse. If he did so, he had but to shoot out 
 his long elastic upper lip on the winning-post, to enrich turf language with the 
 new expression of " won by a lip " ; from all which excruciatingly near things may 
 even the harshest critic be delivered ! 
 
 Equally indicative of his habit is the horse's foot. The Arabic language, 
 
CHAP. I. PRELIMINARY 
 
 II 
 
 with its way of making names descriptive, calls this his hd-fir or digger — our hoof; 
 and truly it forms for him spade, shovel, and bludgeon in one. On the Mongolian 
 steppes he scrapes away the snow with it, so as to get at the vegetation ; or in 
 summer, when the earth is sun-baked, ploughs into it in quest of roots. The 
 association of ideas cleaves to him even in his stall in England ; as shown by the 
 way in which he paws at feeding-time, unmindful of the stable floor. This last-men- 
 tioned trait suggests it to us to notice how in more important ways the horse, 
 when reduced to servitude, reminds us that he is herbivorous. Thus, in Australia 
 horses will carry the heaviest riders thousands of miles without once tasting corn, 
 and be bigger after than before it, if only the bivouacs where the nightly tea-kettle 
 is set a-boiling yield, as they generally do, plenty of grass. This first want of the 
 horse appears in every campaign. The commissariat may lay in as much barley 
 as ever it likes ; but without plenty of hay or grass, the horses and transport- 
 animals wall fall off. In an Indian light cavalry regiment ^ famed in Afghan- 
 istan for its working power, each trooper carried at his cantle a net which he 
 filled with grass, were it but from the roadsides, as often as he had the chance, 
 so that a ration of it was ready for the horses at every halt. Even in ordinary 
 circumstances, perhaps if more care were bestowed on the grass or hay, and the 
 corn reduced, good would follow. 
 
 Let us next observe the readiness with which the horse adapts himself 
 to different diets under different masters. See him first among the civilised 
 and luxurious, drifted almost as far away as the furthest from the primitive 
 maxim that the more simply life is sustained the better. Not content with 
 his oats and beans, his water thickened with meal, and his grass made into 
 sound old hay, there is hardly anything for which he may not conceive a fancy, 
 from roast-meat to sweet biscuits. See him among the robber Turk-u-mans, 
 or after being drafted into the service of their Russian conquerors, how with 
 raid or expedition, pursuit or flight, in front of him, he asks for nothing more 
 than a piece of raw and juicy beef wrapped round the mouthpiece of his bit. 
 Or see him in Arabia. In no other part of the world — none at least where he 
 has been so perfected^does necessity introduce him to such novelties of diet. 
 Truth to tell, both the Arab and his horse eat just what is to be got ; and judgino- 
 from the effect produced on them, it would be well if more of us did the same. 
 The first Highland hut entered by Dr Johnson in his famous "Journey" was that 
 of an old woman, who informed him that in spring, when the goats gave milk, 
 her five children could live without oatmeal, which she considered expensive 
 food ! The parallel of this in Arab tent-life will offer itself in another chapter in 
 
 1 Central India Horse. 
 
12 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 respect of camel's milk. Meanwhile, speaking of solids, the corn /«;' excellence of 
 Bad-u land is the date fruit. Farther north than about A'na on the Euphrates, the 
 date-palm^ does not bear; but in Arabia proper, horses know the taste of its 
 luscious fruit as well as that of barley. On the shores of the Red Sea and the Gulf 
 of Persia, fish, both fresh and dried, are given to horses. They who hold with the 
 philosopher-poet of Persia, Sa'-di, that " the travelled deal hugely in fables," may be 
 inclined to doubt this. Nay, say we with Sa'-di's great-great-grandfather — 
 
 " Travellers ne'er did lie ; 
 Though fools at home condemn them." 
 
 And, in truth, numerous books mention the same fact — for example, the journal 
 of a French naval officer, who visited Shetland in the seventeenth century. " The 
 horses," says the lieutenant, " are no bigger than donkeys, with large heads and 
 badly shaped bodies. They [the Shetlanders] catch a great quantity of cod, 
 which they dry, without salt, by the cold ; the heads and bones of these they 
 dry thoroughly, and pound, and give to their cattle instead of corn." - This may 
 prepare the reader for what has next to be added, of how in Central Arabia the 
 locust is made into provender. This gigantic grasshopper — in Arabic ja-rdd, or 
 stripper — enters much into the life of the Arabs. Their poets mention him side by 
 side with the wild ass and the ostrich. He is not forbidden to Muslim, though all 
 Arabs do not think him eatable, — a fact perhaps due to different species visiting 
 different districts, or to the flavour varying with their food. Once, towards Central 
 Arabia, we were served with locusts. Thinking of John the Baptist, whose pecu- 
 liarities of costume and diet, equally with his eloquence and courage, all speak of 
 nurture in the Arabian desert, we did our best, but failed. Roasted, they eat like 
 sawdust ; boiled, like stewed snails. Yet once upon a time, according to desert story, 
 a single locust fed an army ; when the hoopoe ^ invited Solomon to a banquet 
 on a barren island, and on the guests arriving soared aloft, caught a locust, broke 
 it up, and dropped it in the sea, exclaiming, "Eat, O Prophet of God! they 
 
 ' PJianix dactylifera — alma mate]- of all Arabia. 
 At least a hundred varieties of this tree, each distin- 
 guishable by its fruit, grow around Medina. They who 
 know the date merely as one of the superfluities of 
 European tables, little imagine what a compendium 
 of all food it forms for Arabs. Trade-returns show 
 the importation of it into England greatly to exceed 
 the apparent consumption ; and one explanation of 
 this may be its use in the manufacture of cattle foods 
 and Revalenta arabica. It is also said that our 
 mining population know what a repairer of human 
 tissue and stamina the date is. 
 
 ^ Journal du Corsaire Jean Doublet de Honjlcur, 
 
 lieutenant dc fregate sons Louis XIV. Paris: 1S84. 
 
 ^ Asiatic fable occupies itself with the hoopoe, as our 
 own does with Robin Redbreast. In the Kur-an, she 
 acts as courier between Solomon and the South 
 Arabian queen who visited him. Traditionalists say 
 that Solomon had her from Ophir ; that her crest was 
 of gold ; that for the sake of it she was in danger of 
 extermination ; that she then petitioned Solomon, 
 among whose miraculous endowments, according 
 both to Jewish and Arabian legend, was the power 
 of understanding the speech of all beasts and birds ; 
 and that the result was the changing of her golden 
 crown into a plume of feathers of equal beauty. 
 
CHAP. I. PRELIMINARY. 13 
 
 who get none of the meat are sure at least of the broth ! " — to this day proverbial 
 with Arabs. The reception which awaits a " dropping from the clouds " of locusts 
 differs widely in different places. Towards the Tigris and the Euphrates, the 
 object is to prevent their eggs from being deposited, or, if too late for that, to 
 destroy them ; so that they may not be hatched in spring, when the crops are 
 ripening. Here and there, an old-fashioned Mulla may utter a protest against 
 coming between insects sent by God and their appointed work ; but in these modern 
 times, the Governments even of Baghdad and Mosul have grown distinctly secular ; 
 and in garrison towns the soldiers are employed in winter camping-out to dig for 
 spawn. A poll-tax, payable in bushels of larvje, is imposed on the inhabitants ; 
 and business halts while all who cannot afford to collect their quotas by proxy 
 rush over the country like crusaders, often with music and banners, 
 
 " To extirpate the vipers." ^ 
 
 As so often happens in Turkey, the result is mostly of the " much -cry - and - 
 little -wool" order. In due time the locusts issue, at first very like tadpoles. 
 Myriads of them then overspread the desert. The mazy dances which they 
 indulge in when first they feel their wings, half-jumping, half- flying, one inch 
 from the ground to-day, and two inches to-morrow, with the buzzing made by 
 them, give one almost a feeling of dizziness as he passes over them. The 
 peasant's only chance is to cut his crops, ripe or unripe, before these harpies are 
 strong enough to seize them. The prevailing belief is, that the locusts die, 
 and are eaten by birds, after they have laid their eggs. The May winds often blow 
 millions of them half-torpid into towns, carrying them even into the inner rooms 
 of houses. But whether all thus perish, or flights of them depart with the storks 
 and swallows, they generally leave their eggs behind. The only thing for it is 
 patience, till some year, as is sure to happen, the two great rivers overflow, and, 
 turning miles of dry land into sea, bring a Noah's flood on the seed of the locusts. 
 How different the welcome given to the same visitants in the arid parts of middle 
 Arabia ! Everywhere the fat have much to fear which the lean have not ; and the 
 voracious pest of cultivators forms a precious resource of nomads. When the 
 rustling of their wings is heard in the sky, every tent wakes up. " With all the body 
 turned into an eye," as Persians say, men and women keep gazing, and, if the cloud 
 settles, fall on it eagerly. In a short time, piles of locusts, stripped of their wings 
 and legs, and roasted in holes in the sand, cover the ground. These are dried, 
 made into powder, and stored in sacks. If saved from damp, powdered locust 
 will keep good for years. Not only does this yield as animal food much nutritive 
 
 ' Bon Caiiltier. 
 
14 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. book i. 
 
 matter ; it has the great advantage of being easily carried. Arabs consider one 
 measure of it equal to two of barley; and thus, among the many compensatory 
 arrangements of Nature's plan it has to be reckoned that within the Arab peninsula 
 an acre of sullen wilderness may yield in a moment, without forethought or labour, 
 a richer supply for men and cattle than the plough could wring from it if it were 
 corn-land. 
 
 The several views which we have been illustrating should now be fully 
 before the reader ; at least, if they are not, we do not know how to elucidate 
 them further. The first is, that the Arabian horse greatly follows the Arabian 
 climate; the second, that the epithet of "horse-pasturing" bestowed on ancient 
 Argos by Homer is but little applicable to Arabia; the third, that if, nevertheless, 
 it forms a mother of horses, the explanation lies partly in the migratory impulse 
 of the Arab race, and partly in the horse's aptitude to thrive and multiply on 
 so many different kinds of food. 
 
15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 DEFINITIONS. 
 
 FOREIGN words are being explained, it will be noticed, partly in the text and 
 partly in footnotes. Further information of the same kind is contained in 
 Index I. But there are terms requiring immediate treatment ; and the present 
 chapter will be given to these, so that different readers may not understand them 
 differently. 
 
 At least two such names have been already used : Bedouin, and Desert. 
 
 The former is one of the key-words of these pages. In Index I. it is shown, 
 under Bad-w, how Bedotdn comes into European languages. Its common mean- 
 ing follows so far its derivation. Etymologically, the Bedouin ^ are, they who keep to 
 undemarcated spaces, or open country ; also of, or belonging to, such places, or to 
 their inhabitants. The opposite designation is Ha-dha-ri — one or more whose location 
 is in definite areas, especially in towns or villages. Of all possible divisions of the 
 inhabitants of Arabia, this is at once the most comprehensive, the most apparent, 
 and the most important. We at least, as just now hinted, have to carry it with 
 us from title-page to finis. Hardly a statement can be made about the Arabs, 
 certainly not about their horses, which shall be applicable equally to the wandering 
 and the settled. Strictly, the division should be threefold. First, they who hold 
 absolutely to the moving life. Then, the dingers to the soil, Ahhi 't tin, or 
 clodhoppers — perhaps rather, people of clay, in the sense of building homesteads 
 of it, followers of the noble industry — " the invention of gods and the occupation 
 of heroes." ^ Finally, townsmen, whose wealth has taken on other forms than 
 sheep and cattle ; whose trust is in walls and governments, not mares and razzias? 
 But for our present purpose, peasants {fal-ldh, pi. fal-ld-hin) and townsmen, 
 
 ^ Classically, Ba-da-wi; often pronounced, esp. in 
 Prak, Ba-du-ivi. In these pages, following the best 
 spoken form, we shall use Bad-ii. 
 
 ^ Lord Beaconsfield. 
 
 3 V. in Index I., Ghaz-u. 
 
i6 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. book i. 
 
 shading into one another as they do by imperceptible gradations, may be taken 
 together. 
 
 It was just now stated that of all the divisions of the Arab race, that being 
 here noticed was the most inclusive. And this, in truth, forms its weak point. It 
 is too extensive to be scientific. A good many explanations and qualifications are 
 necessary before it can be safely applied. Thus, one modern writer — Palgrave 
 — in his first chapter leaps boldly to the conclusion that "a fair specimen of the 
 genuine and unalloyed Bedouin species " are the half-savage hordes of the Sha- 
 ra-rat, whose di-ras, or circles of migration, lie in and around the great approach to 
 Central Arabia from the north-west.^ No one will dispute that these Sha-ra-rat 
 are nomads — nomads of the lowest type. But ask over all Arabia whether they 
 be Bedouin, and the answer will be No. Even their claim to rank as Arabs is 
 uncertain. Compared with the indescribable motley of Kurds, Persians, Indians, 
 Africans, Chaldeans, Jews, Turk-u-m^ns, Syrians, Armenians, Greeks, Copts, 
 Albanians, and others mixing itself with Arabs in the Tigris and Euphrates valleys, 
 the population of Central Arabia, especially Najd, exhibits many features of homo- 
 geneousness. Yet it, too, is composite. Apart even from modern inundations, 
 chiefly pilgrims, and apart from the Osmanli, ethnic chips of high antiquity trace- 
 able to no known branch of the Arab stem — home-born aliens, between whom 
 and Arabs of the blood there is no intermarrying — are scattered over it ; and of 
 such are the Sha-ra-rat. This allusion to the Arab view of a race distinction 
 being in the name of Bedouin, just as in Scotland a race distinction is in the 
 name of Highlander, is here only preliminary. What, if any, traces offer of an 
 ultimate diversity of blood underlying, or running parallel with, the divergence of 
 habit distinguishing Ba-da-wi from Ha-dha-ri, will demand inquiry further on ; in 
 connection mainly with the theory which derives the wandering Arabs from 
 Ishmael. Meanwhile, the outstanding fact is noted, that swarms such as the 
 Sha-ra-rat by no means are authentic specimens of the Bedouin stock. 
 
 But further, and equally important. If not every roaming camel-breeder 
 be a Bedouin, except in the bare etymological sense to which in the case of 
 special terms it is useless to cling, neither does every Bedouin exhibit fully the 
 nomad habit. Especially in the towns of Najd, families of well-kept desert 
 lineage are settled : some wedded to commerce ; others forming part of the 
 entourage of one of their own kith and kindred who is pushing his fortunes. With 
 all their contempt for ploughing, the bluest-blooded of desert clansmen dearly love 
 a trading enterprise. From very early times the favourite outlets for the master- 
 ful qualities and irrepressible spirit of pastoral shekhlings have lain in this direc- 
 
 "■ Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 7, vol. i, p. ic. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 DEFINITIONS. 
 
 17 
 
 tion. Next to leading a g/ia.z-21, nothing- suits a Bad-u better than " personally 
 conducting " a troop of merchants or a train of pilgrims. When owing to his pro- 
 tection, out of some mere md-gil, or resting-place for camels, a centre of trade or 
 industry is formed, the lordship over it falls naturally to him and his connections. In 
 our country, also, in olden times, even royal burghs found shelter under the shadow 
 of some territorial magnate chosen as chief magistrate or provost ; but it is fine to 
 mark the mere personality of a desert chieftain thus serving in Arabia as a nucleus, 
 like the natural eminence with its castle atop in Europe. Inside his Avails the 
 Shekh is Al Mu-ha-fidh, the Protector ; at most Al A-mir, the Orderer, — nearest 
 approaches to kingly title which primitive Arab usage favours. For the time being 
 his striped cloak is exchanged for the furred purple ; while camel-driving and the 
 organisation of caravans yield to the wider aims of barbaric statecraft. But no 
 sooner does he, or rather his mare, set foot in the open, than his name is Muham- 
 mad, and all his town manners and tinsel drop off him. The name just mentioned 
 may suggest to many a case in point. The greatest and best who ever bore it ^ — 
 deliverer of untold millions from polytheistic faith and worship — was born, as every 
 one knows, a Meccan townsman : yet was he none the less what his Ku-raish 
 lineage made him — a son and freeman of the desert. A posthumous child, and 
 early bereft of his mother, he received, like Scott at Sandyknowe, part of his 
 nurture among herdsmen and shepherds ; and it was as manager of the business, 
 and conductor of the trading caravans, of his future wife, the well -endowed 
 Meccan widow Kha-di-ja, that his first start in life was made. 
 
 Not even with all this does the explanation of Bedotnn as a term of classi- 
 fication exhaust itself The Hio-hlander of lone aeo at the tail of a herd 
 of black cattle took care not to be mistaken for a common plebeian drover. 
 
 ' It may not be superfluous to inform the reader 
 that the above is not a mere Arab estimate of Mu- 
 hammad, but is confirmed by high European author- 
 ities. As noble of heart as of Uneage, as abound- 
 ing in brotherly love as in moral force, all that was 
 most elevated in the ancient Arab character came to 
 perfection in him. Of the censures commonly passed 
 on him, some are shaken when the Kur-an is studied ; 
 and others count for httle alongside of the facts of his 
 being first a mere mortal, then a sixth-century Arab. 
 Take, for example, his legislation regarding maiTiage. 
 Here should be remembered the old-world view, no- 
 where stronger than in Semites, of the obligation to 
 perpetuate the name and family. From Noah to 
 Muhammad, no patriarch ever dreamt of moral evil 
 in promoting as many expectant maidens as circum- 
 stances justified to be mothers of men ; provided that 
 no one's domestic peace was broken ; no wife or daugh- 
 
 ter forced (except in war) from her own people ; no 
 woman deserted whose hand had once been taken. If 
 the Meccan had realised the " bone of my bone and 
 flesh of my flesh " ideal, if he had dealt with the idols 
 of the harem as he did with those of the temple, he 
 would have been other than an Arab. A graver 
 accusation is that of issuing as God's revelations 
 dogmas and precepts of his own shaping and re-shap- 
 ing. But as to this, only they who have weighed the 
 facts are fair judges. With, e.g., the outbursts of 
 supposed miraculous voices in the church of the ex- 
 cellent Edward Irving in the heart of busy prosaic 
 London before us, extreme allowance is necessary for 
 exaltations of feeling and attendant visions or hallu- 
 cinations — only too apt to become stereotyped or 
 habitual — in one who at the mature age of forty 
 emerged a Prophet from the mountain solitudes over 
 against Mecca, like Amos from the deserts of Judah. 
 
i8 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. • .BOOK i. 
 
 At the time of writing, a gipsy " king " or " duke " or " earl," if such survives, 
 Is in Httle danger of being confounded with the pariahs of the strolling order. 
 But It is otherwise with the subject of our picture. Of all uncertain and 
 Irregular lines, none is more so than that which demarcates, If It can be 
 said to do so, the partly localised and tributary from the perfectly nomadic 
 and unbridled Arabs. Postponing race questions, and speaking only of char- 
 acteristics, the facts are In this wise : In Arabia, as In other backward coun- 
 tries, the merest peasants are often half nomadic. Only the unapproachable 
 clans of the interior remain untouched by the hand of civilisation. Over all 
 the country the current in the main is running away from the predatory and 
 towards the peaceful life. Further on we shall observe great communities 
 actually In the transition stage from one condition to the other. With ethnic 
 differences even — how much more habit — thus ever dissolving and disappearing. 
 In Arabia as all the world over. In the crucible of circumstances, philosophic 
 certainty need not be looked for In any delineation of Bedouin nations. But 
 so much stated, the reader will not be drawn Into error If for the purposes of 
 this book, as Act-makers have It, the term Bedouin be declared to designate 
 those archaic hordes of camel-pasturing horsemen, many of them nations In all 
 but the fluidity and variability of their component parts ; haughty, Independent, 
 yet the reverse of barbarous ; impatient of all authority or organisation outside 
 the tribal group or confederation ; whose roof-tree Is the tent-pole, and their 
 reaping-hook the spear ; whose tent cities are 
 
 " Like the borealis race, 
 That flit ere you can point their place ; " ^ 
 
 and whose multitudinous chivalry, though now as little heeded as if in another 
 planet, may for all that have some highly interesting part in Eastern history In 
 store for it. 
 
 Then as to desert. 
 
 The picture which this word suggests to many Is that of troughs of ribbed 
 sand, devoid alike of green blade and of animal life higher In the scale than scor- 
 pions. In Arabia, as already stated, there are many such. But generally we may 
 be safely guided here by the etymological sense of terra deserta, or tract without 
 settled population, over which Nature's "ancient solitary reign" is unmolested. In 
 Arabic the commoner terms are bd-di-a, from the same root as Bedouin ; bai-dd, 
 from a different root ; Al kha-ld, the void ; sah-rd, In maps written Sahara ; 
 
 ^ Burns, in Tatii o' Shantcr. . ' 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 DEFINITIONS. 
 
 19 
 
 fa-ldt ; ha-vidd ; and to name no more, where Turkish and Persian words prevail, 
 chol. 
 
 The "Arabian desert" of these pages, the reader will please to understand, is 
 not worse off, or sterner, than the average American prairie-land, Australian " bush," 
 or Indian jungle. Acacias, euphorbias, cactuses, myrrhs,^ tamarisks, with other 
 shrubs as frugal of water as the camels whose favourite food they form, soften 
 even its hardest parts. In good years and at the proper seasons, vast surfaces of 
 it, owing nothing to man and all to nature, yield luxuriant pasture. 
 
 Only two other questions of nomenclature remain. How far extends the 
 "country of the Arabian horse"? and what breed, or breeds, of horses are here 
 included in the name Arabian ? 
 
 Beginning with the topographical, it is evident that the two terms " Arabia " 
 and " country of the Arabian horse " are no more synonymous, in the sense of 
 coextensive, than "North Britain" and the country of the Scots! This will be 
 illustrated presently. But much as we shall try to keep out of questions of mere 
 delimitation, not only as hard to settle, but as belonging to works of a different 
 order, here it may be expected of us to consider what exactly is the country which 
 the name Arabia covers. The history of so ancient a word is little likely ever 
 to be got at through etymology ; we, at least, have no rope long enough for 
 so deep a well.^ After all, common use is probably a better guide than lexi- 
 cography. Thus far, in speaking of Arabia, we have chiefly had in view what is 
 often called "Arabia proper," or "peninsular Arabia" — south-eastern prolongation 
 to the Indian Ocean, between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Persia, of the Syrian 
 plateau. But this has merely depended on the space thus indicated much identify- 
 ing itself with Najd, the soil and climate of which are so interesting to us. The 
 time has come to intimate that the narrower definition of Arabia is by no means 
 accepted there. Surface configuration does not conform to it ; the Arabs do not 
 know it ; the principal modern upholder of it is Palgrave, whose book already 
 quoted contains the following: "Arabia and Arabs begin south of Syria and Pales- 
 tine; west of Bussorah and Zubair ; east of Kerak and the Red Sea. Draw a 
 line across from the top of the Red Sea to the top of the Persian Gulf; what is 
 below that line is alone Arab ; and even then do not reckon the pilgrim route, it 
 is half Turkish ; nor Medina, it is cosmopolitan ; nor the sea-coast of Yemen, it 
 is Indo- Abyssinian ; least of all Mecca, . . . where every trace of Arab identity 
 has long since been effaced by promiscuous immorality and the corruption of 
 
 1 In Arabic, murrj q. v. in Index I. 
 
 2 If Lane's suggestion in his Arabic dictionary con- 
 necting A'rab (name of people collectively) with any 
 a mixed collection, which certainly the Arabs have 
 
 been from time immemorial, be accepted then the 
 names Arabia and Abyssinia have the same etymo- 
 logical meaning-. 
 
20 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 ages. Muskat and Kateef must also stand with Mokha and Aden on the list of 
 exceptions" — (vol. ii. p. 163). But all this carries with it its own contradiction. 
 It may be magnifiq^ie, in the sense of sweeping; but it is not geography: on 
 similar grounds London might be put outside of England ! We spoke just 
 now of Arabs. One of them, Abu '1 Fi-da, the very great fourteenth-century 
 historian and geographer, carried Arabia as far north as Aleppo. If we do 
 not follow him here, it is partly because Niebuhr's conclusions on this point 
 are taken as superseding those of earlier writers. It did not escape this prince 
 of scientific travellers that the ancients had imagined a line like that drawn by 
 Palgrave ; but he mentions it only to impute it to their ignorance. After doing 
 so, he thus continues : " Whatever may be thought of the limits assigned to 
 this country by the ancients, a much wider extent must at any rate be allowed 
 to present Arabia. In consequence of the conquests and settlements of the Arabs 
 in Syria and Palestine, the deserts of these countries are now to be regarded as 
 part of Arabia ; which may thus be considered as being bounded on one side 
 by the river Euphrates, and on the other by the Isthmus of Suez." ^ The above 
 description is read as comprehending (i) all the steppe-land interposed between 
 Palestine and I'rak, in Arab speech, Shd-mt-ya, in European, not too correctly, 
 "Syrian desert"; (2) the same diffusing itself southward adown the western side 
 of the lower Euphrates, both above and below its junction with the Tigris at Gurna, 
 to form the Shattu '1 A'rab, or river of the Arabs. How essentially all these 
 lands enter into Arabia, not only because inhabited by Arabs, but in respect 
 of physical aspects, will appear hereafter. Meanwhile the question is. What 
 is the country of the Arabian horse ? The spreading character of the Arab 
 race has already been noticed. Not to let this draw on digression ; not to 
 refer to conquests, notably that unparalleled efflorescence of martial vigour which 
 under Muhammad and his successors carried the Meccan standards over half the 
 world,^ we confine our view here to emigration. And this from the earliest ages 
 has come to Arabs like an instinct. Nobody can presume to say when or how 
 Arabia became their country ; but in the first dim light of history we see them 
 issuing out of it. A ' Saying ' ^ of the Prophet directed against sea-going is 
 sometimes quoted ; but it is absolutely unauthentic. In the Kur-an, passages having 
 
 1 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 9, vol. ii. p. 6. 
 
 ^ On the west, we know, the Arab empire, when 
 most extended (middle of 8th Chr. cent.), touched the 
 Loire ; and for 500 years and more included Spain. 
 On the east, it crossed the Oxus, beyond which 
 its province of Mi-wa-ra 'n na-har reached to the 
 Jaxartes. 
 
 3 The Muslim view of the Kur-an's " down-send- 
 
 ing" {v. p. 4, ante, in f.n. 2) is incompatible with the 
 idea of translating its smallest word into another 
 language ; while owing to the precautions adopted 
 after Muhammad's death in finally making a book 
 of it (v. Kur-an in List of publications consulted), 
 even European criticism finds few openings for im- 
 pugning its textual authenticity, and Muslim easily 
 persuade themselves that in it are the ipsissima 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 DEFINITIONS. 
 
 21 
 
 the opposite tendency meet us — one in particular,^ which in thirteen centuries has 
 encouraged and deHghted milHons upon millions of mariners. Circumstances more 
 than books and sayings doubtless have determined it ; but at all events the supe- 
 riority of the Arabs as navigators over most other Eastern nations is established. 
 Star-craft seems born in them. Out of sight of paths and landmarks, he who is 
 not the veriest townsman will shape a course as truly as if his nose contained a 
 compass. Add to this a spirit of enterprise second only to the Anglo-Saxon 
 — a power of making the most of immutable deserts, not less than of fastening 
 upon trade-points where cities can be founded and wealth acquired by commerce 
 — and we cease to wonder at colonies of Arabs having spread east and west from 
 the Senegal to the Indus, north and south from the Euphrates to Madagascar. 
 We aspire not to carry the reader over all the lands into which the Arab and 
 his horse have passed. Our personal acquaintance with the Arabian in Africa 
 is as slight as is that of most of our countrymen with the Arabian in Arabia ; 
 and, that apart, the subject would prove too wide. On the other hand, too 
 much narrowing of the surface would afford an imperfect picture. The following 
 are among the facts soon to appear. If all the Bedouin nations of the peninsula 
 come under two divisions — namely, such as have never left inner Arabia in con- 
 siderable bodies, and such as have overflowed into adjacent spaces — so does the 
 emigrated portion separate itself into those who still have one foot firm in Najd, 
 going to it, and to their kindred in it, for wives to their sons, and husbands to their 
 daughters ; and those who have not been equally careful " in the land of Canaanites " 
 to keep their blood and manners free from Syrian or Kurdi admixture. Of all the 
 cities washed by the Tigris and Euphrates, there is none, however non-Arab its 
 population, from whose minarets may not occasionally be made out on the far hori- 
 zon the blackness of a Bedouin encampment, having its winter di-ras towards the 
 interior of the peninsula. Lastly, there is none of all these Bedouin with whom 
 there goes not the Bedouin mare. Wherefore necessarily in our pages are counted 
 to the country of the Arabian horse all localities situated in western Asia, and 
 
 verba of " re\'elation." When in these pages a 
 ' Saying ' is quoted, perhaps as genuine perhaps 
 as apocryphal, the reader will please therefore take 
 the reference as applying not to a Kuranic text, but 
 to one of the handed-down A-hd-dith (pi. of ha-dith, 
 q. v.. Index I.) of the Prophet. Barefaced fabricators 
 of such have flourished. After much sifting', between 
 seven and eight thousand ' Sayings ' are now alone ad- 
 mitted into what, for want of better, form the standard 
 collections of " orthodox traditions." But very many 
 of these have variants ; partly through the inaccuracy 
 natural to the illiterate of two hemispheres, and partly 
 through sectarian and polemic garbling. 
 
 ^ He it is Who travel leth you by land and scaj 
 so that when ye are in ships which sail aiuay with 
 them [here pronoun changes from 2d to 3d person] 
 before a favouring breeze, and they rejoice in it, there 
 comes upon them a gale; and the waves beset them 
 fi-om every side ; aiid they think that truly they are 
 whebned by them : — they call on God as true be- 
 lievers in Him only; [saying] — Wouldst Thou but 
 deliver us from this, then surely be we of the thanks- 
 givers : and when He hath delivered them, then 
 transgress they on the earth with what is outside of 
 Right. — Kur-an, S. x. 
 
22 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 tenanted in whole or part by Semites, over which it may be said of him, when 
 occurring, that he is at least among his own people, if not always strictly on his 
 native soil. Our map follows this view. Many good maps of the Arabian pen- 
 insula exist.^ The portions of Arabia falling outside the peninsula are included 
 in even better ones.- But we know of no map — short of maps of Asia — uniting 
 all the country of the above definition. That now offered is compiled from those 
 enumerated below ; not without the addition of routes, seats of tribes, and other 
 particulars derived from personal observation or inquiries. 
 
 Lastly, what is an Arabian ? Some would answer. The pure-bred horse of 
 Najd only ; but this leaves us in a difficulty. Hard-and-fast lines are not to be laid 
 down in Asia as in Europe ; and in any case, to hold that in Arabia only horses of 
 the higfhest class are Arabs would be like narrowing the term "English horse" 
 to strains in the stud-book. True, there is less diversity of size and form 
 among Arabian than among English horses ; but this depends chiefly on the phase 
 of civilisation in which the Arabs still are. They have no coaches requiring 
 grand horses ; or cabs in which to show off steppers of the " own brother to 
 Cauliflower" stamp. In mere travelling they ride their own beasts, without 
 minding what they are like. As draught is still rare among them, their strains 
 are free from the cart-horse blend which is so ineradicable when once it is estab- 
 lished. Not as yet having thought of turning their rivers into beer, they have 
 none of those enormous dray-horses which excite in our cities the admiration 
 of the inhabitants and the jealousy of foreigners. All their goods - traffic, as 
 varied in character as it is considerable in extent, passes noiselessly on the 
 backs of camels and horses, mules and asses : the last in all the greater 
 request owing to the Bedouin despising them too much to " lift " them. For 
 the simple water-wheels and antediluvian wooden ploughs of the cultivating 
 classes, when horse-power is used, and not mules or horned cattle, it is in the 
 form of nondescript ponies, coming, like the loads carried by them, from the 
 four points of the compass, and called in Arabia ku-chish (pi. of ka-dish). 
 Wanting thus the spur of necessity, not less than the needful knowledge, 
 the Arabs, as a whole, cannot claim the title of scientific breeders — that is, 
 manufacturers and cultivators ad iiifinihim of artificial varieties. But an im- 
 
 1 £■._§•., Walker's, comijiled 1849, for E.I. Company; 
 •Palgrave's, to illustrate his journey (1862-63); and 
 Mr C. M. Doughty's, in op. cit. in Catalog. No. 2. 
 
 ^ I. Die Euphrat-Tigris-Lander oder Armenian, Kur- 
 distan und Mesopotamien zu C. Ritter's Erd-Kunde, 
 Buch iii. West-Asien, Theil x. und xi. Bearbeitet von 
 H. Kiepert, Herausgegeben von C, Ritter. Berlin, 
 1854, Verlag von Dietrich Reimer. 
 
 II. Carte Gendrale de I'Empire Ottoman en Europe 
 et en Asie, dressee par Henri Kiepert. James 
 Wyld, Geographer to the Queen, 457 Strand, W.C. 
 1867. 
 
 III. Nouvelle Carte Gendrale des Provinces Asia- 
 tiques de I'Empire Ottoman (sans I'Arabie), dressde 
 par Henri Kiepert Berlin, 1883. Berlin, Dietrich 
 Reimer, Editeur, 1884.; 
 
CHAP. II. DEFINITIONS. 23 
 
 portant factor here is the size and diversity of their country. Not merely the 
 Arab peninsula — 1 300 miles long, from the head of the Gulf of A'kaba to the 
 Straits of Babu '1 Man-dab, by from 900 to 1500 — comes into the prospect. 
 To that has to be added not only all the undemarcated northern deserts 
 which Niebuhr gives to Arabia ; but further, the several conterminous lands 
 included in our map, over which, in town and country, nomads mix with 
 settlers. Over so great an area, necessarily, though there are no Shetland 
 or Orkney Islands producing shaggy and stunted ponies almost as naturally 
 as the mountain - grasses, there occur differences of soil and climate distinct 
 enough to stamp themselves on all animals. Over the same surface, it is 
 absolutely certain, crossing has had, or has still, a more or less free hand 
 given to it. All who are what is called in India "Arab-mad" — that is, such 
 fanatical believers in Arabs as to consider pure breeding, with every other 
 attribute of perfection, implanted in them from the time of Noah — may start 
 at this. But in all the world there is no more proper subject for wholesome 
 scepticism than Arab genealogy, both of men and horses. This will appear as we 
 proceed. Meanwhile, only this point is being made for, that, considering how many 
 Arab tribes will breed from any horse or mare available ; also, the diversity of 
 character and conformation which is produced in horses by the varying degrees 
 of " breeding " present in them, by the physical aspects of their native districts, 
 and by what has been done with them in colthood, our labours would be futile 
 were we to occupy ourselves exclusively with ideal animals. In the sequel it 
 will be brought out most fully that the Central Arabian highlands possess the 
 highest title to rank as nursing-mother of the far-famed steed of Araby. That 
 fact will never be lost sight of. The typical horse of Najd, it will be seen, 
 has a separate chapter given to him. They who accept him, and him only, as 
 an Arabian, are at liberty to do so. But for the subject of this book are taken 
 the horses bred by Arabs all over the territory which our map exhibits. 
 
 Pursuing the plan laid out at starting, several chapters must now be devoted 
 to the country of the Arabian horse. First, the peninsula of the Arabs will be 
 looked at. A brief account will next be given of how and when so many of 
 its nomadic inhabitants have left it. Followinsf in the track of the two greatest 
 hordes which in modern times have done so, we shall then carry the patient reader 
 into the so-called " Syrian desert," or Shd-mt-ya, which is now appropriated by 
 the Ae-ni-za : and thence, across the Euphrates, into the pastures of the Sham-mar. 
 Lastly, with the face still Persia-wards, we shall find ourselves, now on this side 
 the Tigris, now on that, in I'rak — capitals Baghdad and Bussorah — least Arabian 
 of all these countries, but still running over with Arab men and Arab horses. To 
 many Avho have booked themselves with us, the above may suggest heavy going 
 
24 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. book i. 
 
 for the next few stages. It may be so ; but by " springing the team " over the 
 driest bits, perhaps even sometimes pulling up before a picturesque prospect, we 
 shall do our best for all who go on with us. The original route, it may be men- 
 tioned, was a shorter one. No separate stages were thought of for excursions 
 through Arabian countries. To drop the figure, we tried during more than a 
 year so to arrange our materials as that the Arabian horse should form not our 
 central subject only, but our single one. The consequence was, that on the first 
 appearance of terms such as Najdi horse, or as some would write it Nedgdi horse, 
 Ae-ni-za horse, and I'-ra-kl horse, long digressions into geography and tribal 
 history proved necessary. To obviate this, and for other reasons, the lines which 
 are being followed seemed the proper ones. And thus it happens that not the 
 Arabian horse alone, but with him large portions of country, as well as numerous 
 peoples, are appearing in these pages. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 PENINSULAR ARABIA. 
 
 GREATLY as geographical knowledge has been advanced by Arabs, both in 
 the fields of travel and book-making, the boundaries and delineations current 
 among the inhabitants of the peninsula are as indeterminate as they are fluctuating. 
 For " imaginary lines," as for " ethnic frontiers," we are Indebted to Europeans, 
 from the Greeks and Romans downward. By way of surface divisions, land and 
 water, plain and mountain, main portion and " flanks," content the natives; "our 
 limits and other peoples' limits " make up their political geography/. Our purpose 
 of shunning details of boundary has been stated. We are, however, occupied with 
 a race of horses partaking in some slight degree of the character of a fauna. It has 
 been seen how largely the moulding of that breed, equally with its diffusion, follows 
 physical conditions. The further influence which foreign wars, internal disorders, 
 and political changes have had on It will also continually display itself. Therefore, 
 If, In place of topics of delimitation, slight glances at past and present passages of 
 Arab history are here indulged in, we trust to the forbearance of the reader. First 
 of all, vast spaces of the peninsula may be separated as entering but slightly into 
 the country of the Arabian horse. To begin with, there Is the triangle between the 
 Gulfs of Suez and A'kaba — the " Sinaltic peninsula" of geographers. However 
 interesting In connection with the question of whether Sinai, the Olympus, as it has 
 been called, of the Hebrew peoples, be identifiable with this summit, or the other, 
 of its mountain-masses — collectively Ja-bal Tur of Arabs — a region pasturing only 
 sheep and goats, does not allure us. Similarly may be eliminated the great block 
 of desert — covering, as Is computed, about 50,000 square miles — between, on 
 the north, the medial plateau of the peninsula ; and, on the south, Yemen, Hadh- 
 ra-maut, and Oman. In books this is called Ar Rub-n 7 khd-li, or The Empty 
 Quarter. The Dah-nd, or Red, from the orange colour of its drifting and 
 treacherous sands, is a more common name for it. As will appear presently, the 
 
 D 
 
26 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Chinese designation of Dry Sea would well describe it. This is said never to 
 have been traversed in its full width, even by Bedouin. Hunger and thirst, with 
 the extreme of tropical heat, keep guard over it. The wild ass knows it ; and its 
 skirts are full of sun-scorched ostrich-hunters ; but human settlements are impos- 
 sible where a track is no sooner made than obliterated, and where an accident to 
 the water-skins may mean a lingering death. Not towards the Indian Ocean 
 and the Gulf of Oman only, but on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Persia lit- 
 torals also, a varying breadth or belt of coast and mountain may also be excluded. 
 Australians tell us, that the worst horse in all their country is that bred in tropical 
 Queensland near the sea ; and that throughout both Victoria and New South Wales, 
 maritime districts will not produce horses equal in working power or stamina to 
 those of the interior. To realise how in Arabia also this is so, it needs but to 
 enter the peninsula where so many of us obtain our first and only glimpse of it, at 
 Aden ; then pass northward, cross the desert from west to east in the latitude of 
 Suez ; and, holding south again, observe what meets us. Aden, the reader may 
 need reminding, is the port of Yemen ; as Yemen is the " Sheba " or SabEean 
 kingdom of the ancients. Palgrave quotes an old tradition that the Arabian 
 breed of horses originated in Yemen. ^ But probably he did not know that 
 Yemen, and its mistranslation "Arabia Felix," ^ included down to at least 
 Ptolemy's time (prob. loo to 150 a.d.) all Arabia, except the peninsula of 
 Sinai {Arabia PetrcBa)^ and Sha-mi-ya or Arabia Deserta. Rejecting as obsolete 
 this application of the name Yemen, we shall, here and henceforth, use it as did 
 the very early Arabian poets, and afterwards the Muslim geographers. That is, 
 we shall restrict it to the south-western province of the peninsula, as demarcated 
 not alone from Al Hi-jaz and Najd, but also from its own proper extension along 
 the sea-coast, from Aden to Cape Rasu '1 Hadd.* And that Yemen thus defined 
 never was, and never can be, a natural horse-land is written on the face of it, as 
 well as in numerous records. The sweltering heat of its littoral strip — -Ti-ha-ma 
 — is like that of Bengal when the monsoon is gathering. Inland, cooler breezes 
 blow ; mountain-ranges, some of them of a fine elevation, mix with fertile valleys. 
 But such afford no space to nomads ; and their teeming industrious inhabitants 
 have other pursuits than horse-breeding. Burckhardt says of Yemen, that both 
 its climate and pasture are injurious to horses ; that they never thrive in it, and 
 even die in numbers from disease ; as do, he might have added, English, and even 
 
 1 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 19, vol. ii. p. 241. 
 
 2 V. in Index I., art. Yemen. 
 
 5 " Arabia Petrsea " did not mean originally, as 
 supposed by Palgrave, " Stony Arabia" {Ency. Brit., 
 
 vol. ii. pp. 236 et 239), but the Arabia of which the 
 capital was Petra — i.e., the Nabatfean country. 
 * I.e., coast strip of Hadh-ra-maut. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 PENINSULAR ARABIA. 
 
 27 
 
 Arabian, horses in Lower Bengal. When he visited it, he found it drawing on 
 Najd for horses ; also by way of Sa-wa-kin, on the countries watered by the Nile.^ 
 This observation may safely be thrown much further back. Not mere probability, 
 but good evidence, shows the importation of horses into Yemen to have begun 
 tolerably early. " Antiquity " is one of the vaguest of terms : the ages denoted 
 by it may either be immeasurably distant or comparatively near us. To a con- 
 siderable extent, the facts of Arabian geography cited above on the Wild horse 
 question prevent Eq-ims cabalhis from being reckoned among the earliest posses- 
 sions of the Arabs. In the records of the Assyrian kings who took tribute from 
 Arabia, camels and asses are mentioned, but not horses. Strabo, referring to the 
 time of Augustus, observes that there were neither horses nor mules in Yemen.^ 
 The great Greek geographer, so far as appears, never was nearer Yemen than 
 Egypt. No doubt he had excellent information ; but his statement on this point 
 is surprising. At the period in question, Yemen formed the seat of a far-spread 
 Arab empire ; the " Sa-ba," or " Kingdom of the Himyarites and Sabaeans," 
 of whose wealth and trading importance, from the days of Solomon to those 
 of Cyrus, we obtain glimpses in the Biblical books ; ^ and in numerous inscrip- 
 tions both Assyrian and South Arabian. In works like Pocock's "* — at the time 
 marvels of research, but now out of date — more than forty-nine successions of 
 native Yemenite sovereigns are given ; a queen whose name was Bil-kis coming 
 twenty-second on the roll. Arabian lore identifies Bil-kts with the Queen of 
 Sa-ba who, according to traditions noticed slightly in i Kings x. i, 13, and more 
 copiously in the Kur-an,^ visited Solomon ; but the identification has so far not 
 been verified. Solomon's ships plied on the Red Sea ; and his trading caravans 
 opened up new land-routes. He built "cities for his chariots," and "cities for 
 his horsemen" (2 Chron. viii. 6). At that rate, ancient Jerusalem must have been 
 full of horse-dealers. If even the officers of the royal household, when they 
 entertained the Queen of Sheba, failed to seize so magnificent an opportunity of 
 exchanging their used-up horses for gold of Ophir, it was contrary to all modern 
 practice. Strabo's statement may only mean that horses and mules were not to 
 be seen every day, and everywhere, in Yemen at the time alluded to. But the 
 point is of small importance. If down to B.C. 50 no Tobba',*^ or sovereign, of 
 Yemen received horses as presents, or imported them, the several Roman invasions 
 of Arabia in the reigns of Augustus, Trajan, and Severus must have left foreign 
 
 1 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 15, vol. ii. p. 54. 
 
 2 Bk. xvi. p. 768. 
 
 ^ Jer. vi. 20 ; Ezek. xxvii., passim j Isa. 1.x. 6 ; Job 
 vi. 19. 
 
 * Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 8. 
 
 ^ SCi-ra xxvii. 
 
 " Tobba' — the most approved rendering of which is 
 powerful — formed the distinctive hereditary' title of 
 the Sabcean emperors, as Pharaoh formed that of 
 their Egyptian neighbours. 
 
28 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 horses behind them, as our expedition against Theodorus did in Abyssinia.^ Later 
 {c. 356 A.D.), two hundred well-bred Cappadocian horses were among the presents 
 carried by the embassy which the Emperor Constantius sent to Yemen, to incHne 
 the Homeritse towards Christianity.- Even the elephant, so much more like 
 transporting others than being himself transported, was carried from Africa into 
 Yemen. No one knows when the Sabsean kingdom began. But it lasted down 
 to our sixth century; when the Himyarite king Dhu Nu'-as (Dhu Nu-was of the 
 Arab chroniclers) was defeated, and Yemen subjugated by the Ethiopians. All 
 the Arabic stories about the Abyssinians speak of their elephants ; which evidently 
 were a novelty, and greatly impressed the Arabs.^ When Ab-ra-ha, the second 
 Abyssinian king of Yemen, marched from his capital, San-a', to pillage Mecca, 
 he rode an elephant ; but fortune did not attend him. The day he halted before 
 the far-famed temple town, his army suffered a disaster, which prepared the way 
 for the Persian conquest of Yemen {c. 570 a.d.) The year which witnessed 
 Ab-ra-ha's destruction was that of Muhammad's birth. The Kur-an alludes, in its 
 oracular style, to the occurrence. Allah is represented as siding with the heathen 
 Meccans against the Abyssinian Christians ; and sending birds to hail down stones 
 on the " People of the Elephant," so thai they became as corn eaten up all but the 
 stalks.^ 
 
 Marching with Yemen on the north, the "barrier land" of Al Hi-jaz com- 
 pletes the Red Sea coast of Arabia. Here, and in western Najd, Is-lam and the 
 Arab empire began. Here are its two sacred cities — Mecca, where persecution first 
 gave point to Muhammad's mission ; Medina, where he died and -was buried. 
 But not to let this detain us, it has been seen how far from fertile Arabia is ; 
 and sterile, even in the midst of sterility, is Al Hi-jaz. To rear horses in it costs 
 
 1 Mostly as gifts. But sometimes a charger which 
 had broken loose would elect for an Abyssinian career. 
 Thus a distinguished staff-officer landing in Annesley 
 Bay with a couple of English chargers and a groom 
 who didn't know how to picket them, found himself, 
 the first or second morning, with nothing but the 
 groom ! Ultimately one was brought back ; but the 
 other remained. 
 
 ^ This fact has come down in an epitome by 
 Photius (853 A.D.) of Constantinople, of a fifth-cen- 
 tury work, no longer extant, by Philostorgius, v. The 
 Syrian Church in India, by G. M. Rae, 1892, p. 97 
 et seq. The religion of the Sabseans is obscure. As 
 tracing their descent from Abraham and Keturah, they 
 practised circumcision ; and many of their cult terms 
 are common Semitic words. The worship of the 
 heavenly bodies had a great place among them. The 
 old confusion of the people of Sa-ba, or Sheba, with 
 
 the sect, or sects, of the Sd-bi-!i-7!a, is now dispelled. 
 The two names are not written with the same S. 
 
 ^ Nations which do not see to it may go back, 
 instead of forward, in civilisation, religion, arts, and 
 manners. The modern Abyssinians shoot down their 
 wild elephants ; but they have lost the power of 
 taming them. The spectacle of Sir R. Napier's 
 Indian elephants working harder than jiaid labourers 
 filled them with mute astonishment. An elephant 
 picketed near a village would atti'act all the inhabi- 
 tants. When the beast trumpeted, the crowd would 
 flee as if the last trump had sounded. 
 
 ■• Kur-an, S. cv. One of the traditional Arabic ac- 
 counts of Ab-ra-ha's expedition, the preservation of 
 which we owe to the historian Ta-ba-ri, of Baghdad, 
 speaks of an outbre.ak of smallpox in his army ; but 
 this explanation of the bird miracle is caviare to all 
 true believers and sticklers for literal interpretations. 
 
CHAP. III. PENINSULAR ARABIA. 29 
 
 too much money ; and they can be but little used on expeditions, owing to the 
 scarcity of water above ground, and the wells being so often dry. 
 
 "The settled inhabitants of Hi-jaz and Yemen," says Burckhardt, "are not much in the 
 habit of keeping horses ; and I believe it may be stated as a moderate and fair calculation 
 that between five and six thousand constitute the greatest number of horses in the country, 
 from A'kabah, or the north point of the Red Sea, southwards to the shores of the ocean 
 near Hadh-ra-maut." 
 
 And again — 
 
 "The Bedouins of Hi-jaz have but few horses, their main strength consisting in camel- 
 riders and foot-soldiers. In all the country from Mecca to Medina, between the mountains 
 and the sea, a distance of at least 260 miles, I do not believe that 200 horses could be found ; 
 and the same proportion of numbers may be remarked all along the Red Sea from Yam-bu' 
 up to A'kabah." 
 
 Observations as to numbers made in Burckhardt's day, if revised in ours, 
 would probably give lower, not higher, figures. The studs of the great are outside 
 the question. These merely indicate their owners' wealth and power, and the 
 energy used in getting them together. At mid-winter in Cabul, when outside 
 it was like Siberia, we raised vegetables in a warm corner of our hut ; and 
 so may horses be bred in Al Hi-jaz. Thus, we are told by Burckhardt of the 
 Sha-rif of Mecca, that he " possessed an excellent stud " ; that " the best stallions 
 of Najd were taken to Mecca for sale " ; and that " it became a fashion among the 
 Bedouin women going on a pilgrimage to Mecca that they should bring their 
 husbands' stallions as presents to the Sha-rif; for which, however, they received 
 silk stuffs, ear-rings, and similar articles."^ 
 
 Crossing now the stony desert which trends from the top of the Red Sea 
 to the Persian Gulf, we come to the oasis of Al Ha-sa. Some so miles lono-, 
 by about 15 at its broadest, this occupies almost the whole region skirting the 
 upper half of the Gulf. Its settled inhabitants have been guessed at 150,000; all 
 busily engaged in trade and cultivation. But hordes of nomads revolve round 
 it; and the ga-sd-ib, or long plaited locks,^ of the Uj-man, Mur-ra, Ba-ni Kha-lid, 
 and other divisions of the Bedouin, everywhere appear in it. The climate is 
 more Indian than Arabian. To one entering it from the desert, the shade of 
 its date-gardens, the coolness of its rice and corn fields, and the sound of its 
 waters bubbling up from springs, and careering through green places, seem too 
 delightful to be real. Caesar, and others after him, have it that the natives 
 of coast districts exhibit in their manners the liberalising effects of commercial 
 
 1 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 15, vol. ii. p. 56. I the Ae-ni-za and Sham-mar, ja-dd-il~i.e., twists or 
 
 ^ Called also ku-rini, or gu-rihi, lit. horns; and by I braids. 
 
3° 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 [book I. 
 
 intercourse. In certain of their aspects the inhabitants of Al Ha-sa exempHfy 
 this ; or perhaps they are not Arabs, in the sense that the tribes of the interior 
 are Arabs. At all events, Aryan leaven from across the Gulf of Persia has 
 often stirred them. In the third century a.h., when Carmathian rationalism 
 was waging war on Allah-worship, the forces which shook the Arab empire 
 gathered in Al Ha-sa.^ Nearer our time, when the Wahabite theocracy radiated 
 outward from the centres of Bedouin life in Najd, the merchant princes and 
 oases- planters of the eastern coast-land, though compelled to accept it, never 
 loved it. This Wahabyism will often again be mentioned.'-^ In our day, as 
 most readers know, not only the Wahabite kingdom, but the fervid theological 
 development which inflated it, are in a state of subsidence. Al Ha-sa 
 now forms as completely an Ottoman province as Al Hi-jaz and Yemen — 
 more so indeed than the latter, in which is the British settlement of Aden. A 
 Turkish garrison is posted in its chief town, Huf-huf; the Turkish flag flies, 
 or droops, over the old Carmathian fortresses. Constantinople-coloured Islamism 
 suits the temper of its people better than sectarian rigorism. Articles of taxation, 
 not articles of religion, occupy the thoughts of the Osmanli. Embargoes on 
 silk and other luxuries as unbefitting a "true believer" have gone out with 
 Wahabyism : the products and manufactures of China, India, and Persia now 
 freely enter the province through many a harbour. No longer dragged off 
 to holy wars or crusades against "infidels," its inhabitants are prospering. The 
 
 ^ The reactionary movement of the Carmathians or 
 Ka-rA-mi-ta \v. Index I.] is distinguished sharply from 
 protests like those of the Kha-wd-rij \v. Index I.] and 
 Wa-ha-bis. The two last named were directed at 
 the straightening., or reform, of Islamism. The Car- 
 mathians rather followed in the footsteps of the 
 Najdian Shekh nicknamed Mu-sai-li-ma \v. Index I.], 
 who in the Prophet's lifetime headed a revolt on the 
 lines of paganism. Their first appearance was in 
 Babylonia. Welded together by a Knight Templar- 
 hke discipline and organisation, during two centuries 
 they maintained their tenets of perfect freedom from 
 every code of morals or theology. It is a matter of 
 history how, under their warlike leaders, they wrested 
 large portions of I'rak, Syria, and Arabia from the 
 Caliphs : how at the pilgrimage season of 930 a.d. 
 a Carmathian horde under Abu Ti-hir sacked Mecca ; 
 carried off the "black stone" (ransomed 22 years 
 later) ; and perpetrated deeds worthy of Hulagu and 
 his Tatars {v. Gibbon's fifty-second chapter). The 
 fruitful parent, Ismailism, of the Carmathian move- 
 ment is known to moderns through another of its 
 progeny, the Druses. Offshoots of the same stem are 
 the Assassins ; said still to exist in Lebanon, and 
 
 certainly flourishing in Persia. 
 
 2 Most have read how in the beginning of our 
 century Turkey, or rather Egypt, was forced to 
 send expeditions into middle Arabia to curb the 
 Wahabis ; how from 1819-49, Egyptian Pashas main- 
 tained a grip of the Najdian table-land ; how in 
 the latter year Najd rose on the foreign garrisons, 
 and restored the Wahabite empire. The second 
 break-up of the revived sectarian sovereignty is also 
 a matter of history. In due time {c. 1871) its fall was 
 followed by the occupation of its seaboard province 
 of Al Ha-sa by a small force from Baghdad. The 
 Turkish commander then proclaimed himself "con- 
 queror of Najd"; and his master the Sultin sent 
 him a sword of honour, with "Najd" studded in 
 diamonds on the scabbard. This is all very well ; 
 so long as it does not produce the impression that 
 Al Ha-si is part of Najd ; or that governors are now 
 sent from Constantinople into Central Arabia proper. 
 Notwithstanding very great changes, Najd still forms 
 what it did when the first glimmer of tradition falls 
 on it, the heart of Arabian nationality and autonomy 
 — the most Arab portion of Arabia. 
 
CHAP. III. PENINSULAR ARABIA. 31 
 
 sister arts of agriculture and horse-breeding flourish round their hamlets. Speaking 
 of this suggests that here may be a convenient place to notice two of the many 
 descriptives under which Arab horses pass in India — " Gulf Arabs," and " Najdi 
 Arabs." The former name is often given loosely to such as are not good- 
 looking, when the "coarseness" is unredeemed by racing form; the latter, to 
 "little pictures," of a stamp which every self-constituted judge carries with him 
 in his eye, though he scarcely could describe it. As for the coarse ones, 
 directly we get outside of the peninsula we shall see many localities which 
 produce them: here it merely is the counting of them to "the Gulf" that calls 
 for a remark. If by " Gulf" the Persian side of it be intended, then, whatever 
 share of Arab blood belongs to them should not save them from the name of 
 Persians, if it be Persian breeding, or want of breeding, that has shaped them. 
 Speaking, however, of the Arabian border, that is Al Ha-sa, not only are big and 
 vulgar ones unfrequent there, but if a type exist at all for the miscalled " Najdi " of 
 the Indian market, the Ha-sa bred one, we rather think, supplies it. Not that in 
 Al Ha-sa there is only one type. Bad-u land, as just seen, has this oasis for its 
 horse-market. Well -grown colts, or, oftener, aged stallions, of the best desert 
 strains, are brought into it, and sold, by Bad-us ; while others are bought by towns- 
 men from passing foray parties. Yet withal, innumerable " wretches " grow up 
 under its palm-trees. Blood and " manners " may seldom be wanting. It is easier 
 to find a blood one in Al Ha-sa than the opposite. The " sweetly pretty," if 
 sometimes characterless, head is present ; also a glossy coat : the former Najdian ; 
 the latter due to the warmth all the year round of the Ha-sa climate. But these 
 things no more make a horse than French gloves and shiny boots do a man. 
 Herding from foalhood with cows and buffaloes develops neither bone nor barrel. 
 Crops oi jat or lucerne are excellent things in their way ; but they belong to the 
 stall-feeding system. For want of having had the temper chastened with work in 
 colthood, the village-bred horse of Al Ha-sa generally is of the tear-away division, — ■ 
 the kind that at the starting-post take two grooms to hold them ; the moment the 
 flags are down, if not before it, shoot out like northern streamers ; coming up the 
 distance, look like half-drowned cats. Remount officers should not go to Al Ha-sa, 
 unless it were for an Indian regiment of the very lightest of light, and shortest of 
 short, riders. On the other hand, thousands of camels could be collected by a 
 European or Indian agency making Huf-huf its headquarters. A speciality 
 of the province is its breed of white asses, and these are reared within the oasis. 
 India takes a considerable number of them for mule-production. All over Asiatic 
 Turkey, the more of Al Ha-sa blood a donkey has in him, the higher is his value. 
 
 And now enough by way of survey of the girdle of coast, desert, and mountain, 
 making up, let it be said, the outer third of the peninsula. True, nothing has been 
 
32 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK. I. 
 
 told of the extensive south-eastern province Hadh-ra-maut, with its continuation 
 northward, Mah-ra ; but these are still unexplored, and facts relating to their 
 animals are wanting. The maritime kingdom of Oman is also being passed 
 over. Inland, this abounds in features as soft and pleasing as its sea-coast is 
 threatening and volcanic. Wells and fountains enrich it agriculturally. Of all 
 the " concessions " awaiting European enterprise, that of mining into the min- 
 eral treasures of Oman may perhaps be put high up the list. Its dromedaries 
 are among the best in Arabia ; but we hear nothing of its horses. In two suc- 
 cessive reigns, we have looked over the stud of its Sultan, without seeing in it 
 a very superior mare or stallion. The attendants said that there were better 
 collections at others of the royal palaces and pasture-grounds ; and that Najd 
 was where such were recruited from. With every indication thus converging 
 Najd-ward, it is time to view the kernel the shell of which has now been opened. 
 Etymologically, Najd means Highlands. Never had that word a deeper place in 
 the heart of Celts in Scotland than Najd has now in that of Arabs. The tribal 
 offshoot settled on the Tigris or Euphrates values itself, and is valued by others, 
 according to its claims to Najdian origin. The family domiciled for generations 
 in a Syrian or Levantine city, if it would find, or make, for itself an Arab pedigree, 
 goes to Najd for It. Most of all the Bad-u, however wide the circle, to use 
 a Persian figure, which the compasses of his heart describes, has Najd for central 
 spot. From distant Africa even, not an Arab who has kept his pedigree turns 
 his footsteps Najd-ward without good hope of finding kinsmen. For alignment's 
 sake we have adopted in our map the boundary, founded on geographical feature, 
 which Palgrave gives to Najd ; ^ but, for our present purpose, a less unbending 
 definition is necessary. Once we chanced to spend some time in Zu-bair, a town 
 near Bussorah, at the sea extremity of the Euphrates deserts. Even there, 
 within sight of Persia, on the debatable land between Semite and Aryan, the 
 inhabitants, whose long, pensive, feminine features, equally with their grave yet 
 
 1 Namely, these 9 provinces, laying themselves out 
 diagonally from N.E. by E. to S.W. by W., at an 
 elevation of from 1000 to 4000 feet : — 
 A'ridh, capital Ar-Ri-ddh : centre of all the most 
 
 Pharisaical leaven of Najd. 
 Sa-dir : bearing the flower of the population in respect 
 
 of martial qualities. Ch. town, Al Maj-ma'. 
 Ya-md-ma : Wa-ha-bi to the core. Ch. town, Khark 
 
 or Kharj. 
 Ha-7-ik (oftener Ha-rich). Ch. town, Hu-ta. 
 Fa-laj (pi. Af-ldj). 
 Da-wd-sir : nearly all valley. 
 Sa-lt-la : a poor and little known region. 
 Washin : important district ; key to A'ridh. Has 
 
 historical towns of Dhii 'r rum-ma ; Shak-ra or 
 Shag-ra (commercial centre on route between Mecca 
 and Bussorah); Kuw-wa. An army in Najd, cut off 
 from Washm, would be in danger of starvation. 
 Ka-sini : nearest approach to settled country in Cen- 
 tral Arabia ; tempting to raiders ; its valleys studded 
 with villages, granges, and gardens, wrapped in 
 winding-sheets of sand. Wahabite fanaticism here 
 tempered by foreign travel. About a third of its 
 population, says Doughty, have been to Mecca and 
 Medina, Ku-wait and Bussorah, as caravaners. 
 Important towns, U'nai-za, Bu-rai-da, Ris. Swarms 
 with horse-buyers. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 PENINSULAR ARABIA. 
 
 33 
 
 cheerful manners, revealed their Najdian origin, fondly imagined themselves un- 
 separated from Najd. But when questioned they admitted that, although the air 
 around was Najdian, the ground itself belonged not to Najd, but to its jic-nild, or 
 flanks. Following the lead thus afforded — the prevailing one with Arabs — by 
 Najd will hereafter be indicated, not the Najd only of the straitest geographers, 
 but Najd with its " flanks " added : that is, every central district, however pro- 
 longated, the aspects of which, as distinct from oases like Al Ha-sa, are Najdian. 
 Considering that we have here the spaces making up the very own country of the 
 pure-bred Arabian, it is a pity that they have been but slightly, if at all, explored 
 by European horsemen. The Arab says, He ivho enters Najd does not come out 
 again. Wahabite fanaticism may have had, and still may have, its share in this. 
 But there are sound secular reasons also for Najdian exclusiveness. The Arabic 
 word for conquest literally means opening. And the Central Arabian people, with 
 their seaboard encroached on by the Osmanli, and with other foreigners even 
 more distinctly of the veni, vidi, vici order supposed to be perpetually on the 
 hover, live in such fear of spies or forerunners that their doors, they think, can- 
 not be kept too stricdy bolted. A Sultan of Najd once boasted to a British 
 officer that, although his agents w^ere everywhere, and kept him well informed, he 
 had few relations with foreign States. His Minister spoke of us as " successful 
 pirates " ; laughed outright at the notion of our philanthropy ; and eyeing hard 
 a naval cap, asked w^hether the wearer was " one of those commodores who 
 used to seize vessels in the Persian Gulf"!^ The accredited official of a 
 foreign Power who enters Najd will, so long as he keeps to governed parts, be 
 taken such jealous care of, that, unless some one kill him to bring trouble on 
 his protector, his life will be safe enough ; but he will hear or see compara- 
 tively little except by order or permission. The private traveller who avows 
 himself a European and a Christian will, if he escape with life, be passed from 
 place to place with blows and buffetings, as mad dogs are in Europe."^ As for 
 
 1 Op. cit. in Catalog-. No. 28, p. 49. 
 
 2 Let them who question it consult the pages of one 
 who tried it — " the seeing of an hungry man, and the 
 telling of a most weary one" — the traveller Doughty. 
 The mention of " mad dogs " suggests certain facts 
 bearing on rabies which Baghdad affords. Except 
 only, thanks to the Tigris, want of water, every con- 
 dition favourable to this peste flourishes. The " dog- 
 days," lasting half the year, are intense. A wet and 
 cold winter follows. Every man's house is his dung- 
 heap. Corruption rots in the ways. Not the smallest 
 precaution is taken. If any native of Baghdad were 
 to spy a dog in a muzzle, he might, or might not. 
 
 have the humanity to free him of it ; but he would 
 think that the man who had put it on was beside 
 himself Well, with all this, not only does rabies 
 not produce itself in the large free community of 
 dogs distributing themselves in guilds over the several 
 qua7-tierss but not all the jackals, foxes, and wolves 
 of the surrounding country introduce it. Perhaps 
 even stranger ; in ten years' residence we have known 
 two packs of English fox-hounds, with German boar- 
 hounds, and sporting and house dogs of every breed 
 and no breed, imported by Europeans. Curs are also 
 always being brought in by caravaners, and by the 
 military, from all parts of Turkey, Central Asia, and 
 
34 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 disguises, they are as precarious as in certain circumstances they are humihating : 
 for the ass to put on the Hon's skin shows a laudable ambition, if a fooHsh one ; 
 when the lion dons the ass's, not only is there fear of the cudgel, but the best 
 qualities of the king of beasts may go out of him. 
 
 But to proceed. In viewing a little while ago the barriers of the pen- 
 insula, we saw, on the north and north - east, a gravelly desert sloping from Al 
 Hi-jaz to Al Ha-sa : on the south, the "boundless continuity" of desolation 
 of the Dah-na, or great red desert, rolling its sandy billows upward to the 
 Najdian confines. Next it has to be mentioned, how out of the Dah-na there 
 proceed northward, eastward, and westward, courses within courses of arms or off- 
 shoots ; the tendency of which is to soften as they go, much as ocean flow- 
 ing inland loses by degrees its brine. These are the Nu-ftadh, literally piercers, 
 or passes. As natural phenomena they perplex geographers ; but we cannot 
 touch on that. One result due to them is that, not on the north and south only, 
 but on every side, a girdle of desert encloses inner Arabia. It was the outer 
 rim of this which, when encountered here and there by the Greeks and Romans, 
 led them to imagine that all the inner peninsula was unpeopled save by dragons. 
 The name " Daughters of the desert" given to the Nu-fudh by Arabs ^ describes 
 them perfectly : earth's surface undergoes transition in them from the uninhabitable 
 to the habitable. Slightly in the same manner as the populated portion of Egypt, 
 while guarded on the whole by deserts, is intersected by branches of the Nile, 
 the central table-land of Arabia submits itself to the embraces of this progeny of 
 the southern sand - waste. The Nu-fudh form deep indentations in it, like 
 gulfs in a mainland, and much determine its contour. In many parts, they 
 go through and through it. Thus, in Central Arabia, plateau land makes one 
 country, and Nu-fudh land another country. The vast sierra-broken plains of 
 the former, not unstudded with historical cities, and rich in oasis hamlets, here 
 but slightly claim us. The interest for us is in Nu-fudh land' — but another 
 
 Egypt ; yet we have never seen or heard of either a 
 case of rabies in the canine, or hydrophobia in the 
 human, species. How widely different the case is in 
 India ! The greatest legislators in the modern world 
 — those of Simla — make and amend Acts about it : 
 piles of dogs are done to death annually, to the horror 
 of the natives, by the magistracy ; and still do mad 
 dogs rank with snakes and swollen rivers as among 
 the checks to horse-breeding. Once in the Deccan 
 it was ours to breed, and feed on corn till he was a 
 four-year-old, a colt destined only to be bitten in his 
 hovel by a running cur. After about a month rabies 
 followed : before the scene ended, the poor animal 
 
 had half destroyed himself with his teeth, and by 
 knocking himself about. 
 
 ^ At the very heart of the Arab's speech is personi- 
 fication. Everything is with him father, mother, 
 son, sister, or daughter, of something else. Thus 
 Abu '1 khashm, father of the nose, common name 
 for the carrier-pigeon, from the size of his beak, 
 and the fleshy protuberance at the base of it ; Um- 
 mu '1 kha-ba-ith, mother of crimes, a name often 
 given to wine ; Ibnu a-wi (vulg. wa-wi), the jackal ; 
 yet more poetically Bintu 'I ja-bal, daughter of the 
 mountain — i.e., the echo ; and so forth. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 PENINSULAR ARABIA. 
 
 35 
 
 word for Bad-u land. We know of but two of our countrymen who have crossed 
 the peninsula from sea to sea, necessarily taking in their way two or more courses 
 of the Nu-fudh. In 1819 Captain Sadlier of the 47th Foot, sent by Government 
 to congratulate the Egyptian Commander Ib-ra-him Pasha on his successes against 
 the Wahabis, marched 1200 miles, in European dress, across every natural obstacle 
 from Ka-tif to Yam-bu'. On reaching the Pasha's camp near Medina, he found 
 him to have acquired in the campaign three hundred mares and horses. " These," 
 says the Captain's Journal, " his Excellency has collected from the different tribes 
 of the districts which he visited, who scarcely retain either horse or mare to propa- 
 gate the species ; these parts of Arabia will therefore remain destitute of good 
 horses, which will now be transferred in a great measure to Egypt, whither his 
 Excellency has heretofore despatched a great number, independently of the num- 
 ber carried out of Arabia by the soldiery." ^ The same traveller also states, 
 that if any of the Bedouin near his route had still a good horse, he would not 
 venture to bring it for sale, lest it should be seized, and he himself dismissed 
 empty-handed and on foot, to be laughed at : a sounder view than that of some 
 others who, because of their having passed through portions of the same country 
 without seeing horses, have concluded that there were none in it ; the finding of 
 horses to buy being in truth as much a sijecial gift as the buying of them when 
 they are before one." Half a century after Captain Sadlier, Mr W. G. Palgrave 
 (1862-63) posing as "a native travelling - doctor," he and his Syrian comrade 
 " dressed like ordinary middle-class travellers of inner Syria," -^ passed right over 
 the peninsula, traversing three main segments of Nu-fudh land. The season was 
 midsummer : Nature's aspects in the Nu - fudh were so Tartarean as to make 
 " clothes, baggage, and housings all take the smell of burning ; " the " suffocating 
 
 1 op. cii. in Catalog. No. 3. 
 
 2 Arabia is not singular in this respect. The fol- 
 lowing passage in a paper on " Cape Horses " in an 
 old Review deserves reprinting : — 
 
 " A purchasing- ofificer at the Cape should not only 
 be gifted with the leather of a post-boy and the pa- 
 tience of a Job, but he ought to have time for the exer- 
 cise of a painstaking search ; steering a zigzag course, 
 passing by no /wry-looking farm-house without a 
 ' peep into the stable,' to see what manner of ' paards ' 
 (nags) are there. ... As was our wont, ^^•e were in 
 the saddle one fine morning at early dawn. . . . 
 Our first halt was at the farm of a person who re- 
 joices in the sobriquet of ' Zwart Cop ' (Black Pate). 
 ..." Come in and eat whilst your horses have a 
 feed.' . . . 
 
 " During our repast the conversation was drawn 
 to horses. Our host protested he had none. Le 
 
 Merchant's chin dropped into his waistcoat in despair. 
 I gave him a nod of encouragement, and proposed a 
 stroll. Mynheer said ' Ja,' and in a very few minutes 
 we were in the stable, where we found ten uncommonly 
 neat bay geldings. I inquired as to their ownership, 
 seeing that our host had none of his own. The an- 
 swer was, ' Oh ! these are my ' span ' (waggon teams), 
 and not for sale.' Knowing what that meant, I 
 begged to see the horses trotted out — a bit of flat- 
 tery a Boer is open to, his span being his pride — and 
 we noted 5 as fit for troopers. A second span was 
 brought up from the field, from which we picked 4 
 more. Money was offered, and accepted after the 
 usual amount of coquetting, and by the time our 
 hacks had finished their bait we had added 9 good 
 horses to the roll of the 7th Dragoon Guards." — Op. 
 cit. in Catalog. No. 26, vol. iv. pp. 112, 113. 
 5 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 7, vol. i. p. 5. 
 
36 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 sand-pits," " burning walls," with ever and anon a prospect seeming " a vast sea of 
 fire ruffled into little red-hot waves," ^ threw the writer for further metaphor on 
 the poet of the ' Inferno.' The traveller who, to display his powers or beguile his 
 readers, indulges in such extreme descriptions, must expect to be called to account 
 for it ; but we prefer discounting the excess, and accepting the remainder. Certainly 
 we have never seen any such terrible abysses ; but then we have never sought 
 for them. The only "daughters of the desert" encountered by us have been such 
 as, after meandering far from home, had turned comparatively gracious and amiable : 
 not hundreds of feet deep, but more like empty river-beds ; striped with cattle-paths ; 
 entwined with marks of coming and going ; well spread with bunch-grass, and with 
 shrubs a man's height or more, especially the tufted camel euphorbia called gha-dhd 
 —the distinctive feature always being the dunes, or ridges of red sand, which rise 
 abruptly on either hand. And yet one summer a mare was brought to us at Baghdad 
 from the Bedouin of Western Arabia whose state suggested the " burning lakes " of 
 Palgrave. Her hind-legs had got as scorched and seared in crossing the Nu-fudh as 
 if fire had done it. One of the limbs it chanced was white, and as long as she 
 lived remained red and hairless — a proof, perhaps, that skin producing white hair 
 is naturally weaker than the dark-coloured. 
 
 In 1865 an explorer of a different school, the well-known military pioneer Lewis 
 Pelly,^ then Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, striking right down from Ku-wait, 
 at the head of the Gulf, to beard the aged Fai-sal, Head of the Wahabite empire, 
 in his capital, Ar Ri-adh, crossed, and described in plain official language, the broad 
 belt of unmitigated desert which shuts in Central Arabia on the east. The dashing 
 march of sixteen days, including halts, which it took the party to make Ri-adh, 
 introduced them to one of the worst of the Nu-fudh, called the "lesser Dah-na," 
 from its resemblance to its "mother," the great southern desert — a long strip of 
 bareness, at one place fifty miles broad, running up towards the stony wastes at 
 the head of the Gulf of Persia. The Journal kept has been printed, but not, we 
 believe, published; and perhaps the reader might relish an extract from it. But 
 first a word in regard to horses. For the purpose of helping them to fall in with 
 likely colts, a professional buyer went with the camp ; but not one was forth- 
 comino". The few groups of Bedouin met were mostly camel-riders. A day's 
 journey from the sea, a plump of desert spearmen — the wildest-looking of creatures 
 — came up to them at a scamper, mounted on camels and mares.^ Only once 
 
 ^ Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 7, vol. i. p. 92. 
 
 2 Whose death as Lieut.-General Sir L. Pelly, 
 K.C.B., K.C.S.I., and M.P. for Hackney (N.), has 
 happened while this is being printed. 
 
 ^ Some years ago, a Swiss merchant of Baghdad, 
 
 when crossing the same desert on a dromedary, had 
 the misfortune to meet a similar party riding two and 
 two on camels ; the front rank man, so to call him, 
 armed with a short spear or sword, and the fellow be- 
 hind him (in Arabic his ra-dif) with a lighted match- 
 
CHAP. III. PENINSULAR ARABIA. 3; 
 
 a colt was brought for sale. As above observed, it no more follows necessarily 
 that the country along their route had none to yield, than it would follow from 
 one's crossing India without seeing any robbers that they had all been laid by 
 the heels. But evidence is accumulating that in large portions of Arabia proper, 
 were it not for its Will-o'-the-wisp-like nomads, horses would be rare. Among 
 the glimpses of the "lesser Dah-na" given in the Journal are the following: — ■ 
 
 "There are altogether seven distinct lines of sand-hills with their intervening plains 
 forming the breadth of the (lesser) Dah-na at the line where I crossed it. But this particular 
 line is selected on account of its comparative easiness ; and we could observe that on either 
 hand the region became more confused and broken up. . . . On the whole, the (lesser) Dah-na, 
 as we saw it, resembles seven huge rollers, with intervening plains of sea. Standing on the 
 top of the last or westernmost ridge, which may be about a couple of miles wide, you overlook 
 an horizon-bounded plain, scrubby with brushwood, and flushed here and there with scud and 
 sand. You might fancy yourself standing on a sandy cliff and overlooking the ocean, so clearly 
 defined is the base of the sand-ridge and the commencement of the plain. . . . 
 
 " Compared with the vast waste we have now crossed, even the most desert parts of Persia 
 seem wooded and peopled ; for we have seen neither tree, hut, nor fowl, and scarce a goat, since 
 we left Ku-wait." 1 
 
 What Sadlier and Palgrave did for the girth of the peninsula, and Pelly for 
 its north-eastern quarter, a brave Englishwoman and her husband did for its north- 
 western shoulder. All her countrymen, and still more her country-women, may be 
 proud of Lady Anne Blunt's journey. Entering from towards Damascus, and 
 holding south-east along the deep serpentine depression called Wa-di Sir-han, a 
 principal line of communication both for merchants and Bedouin between Sha-mi-ya 
 and middle Arabia, they made their way past the oval oasis of Al Jauf — place of 
 wells, corn-fields, and date-plantations — through a course of true Nu-fudh to the 
 province of Ja-bal Sham-mar, the capital of which, Ha-yil, stands near the Hajj 
 road between Bussorah and Medina. And here it more and more comes out how 
 even these Central Arabian sand-streams participate in Nature's blessed diversity 
 of feature. True, it was winter. Still, had the Nu-fudh been all of one pattern, 
 Lady A. Blunt could not have written of the one threaded by them that it was 
 
 lock. If he had chanced to come on them in their 1 a certam weed will hear with interest that his one 
 tents, the desert law of da-khil, or hospitium, would | appeal was for a few of his own havannahs ; by refus- 
 have protected him, and a sheep would have been ! ing which the ruffians put themselves very low down 
 
 killed for him. But meeting him in the open, where 
 with Arabs it is "no sin for a man to labour in his 
 vocation," after some discussion on the vital question 
 of his throat, they stripped him and his two men 
 not only of their arms and dromedaries, but of eveiy 
 rag of clothing, and turned them adrift in the desert. 
 Happily the Euphrates was near, so that the subject 
 of the incident is still alive to tell of it. Lo\-ers of 
 
 among the world's caterans. They showed also, it 
 is worth noting, the same scruples about taking a 
 prize unawares as their Zulu congeners did with the 
 Prince Imperial. Having marked down their bird 
 while on the ground, they waited till he was up again, 
 before actually falling on him. 
 1 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 28. 
 
38 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 " better wooded and richer in pasturage than any part of the desert passed since 
 leaving Damascus," containing " several kinds of camel-pasture, especially one new 
 to us called adi\ on which they say sheep can feed for a month without wanting 
 water; and more than one kind of grass," so that "both camels and mares are 
 pleased with the place, and we are delighted with the abundance of firewood 
 for our camps." Out of this there proceeded the discovery that "the Nu-fudh 
 account for everything"- — ^that is, for Central Arabia yielding horses. " In the 
 hard desert," it is stated, " there is nothing a horse can eat ; but here [in the Nu- 
 fudh] there is plenty. ... It is in reality the home of the Bedouins during a great 
 part of the year. Its only want is water, for it contains but few wells ; all along 
 the edge it is thickly inhabited ; and Ra-dhi [their guide] tells us that in the 
 spring, when the grass is green after the rain, the Bedouins care nothing for water, 
 as their camels are in milk, and they go for weeks without it, wandering far into 
 the interior of the sand desert." ^ 
 
 With such high authority confirmatory of the conclusion that Nu-fudh land 
 means Bad-u land, we do not think that the reader's time has been wasted in 
 this survey of it. Austere as are its features, every breed, let us remember, in 
 order to be thriving and permanent, must be in harmony with its environments. 
 For the production of those overgrown horses, having watery bodies supported 
 on thin legs, which are too often seen in greener, and for horse-show purposes more 
 fostering, pastures, nothing could be more unpromising. But the conditions here 
 presented, and the way in which the mares and foals, in order to pick up a living, 
 are kept constantly on the rummage, form great aids of pure breeding in refining 
 the Najdi horse from dross or lumber, and making him what he is, a desert 
 diamond. If, as seen above, Najd is to every Bad-u what Al Hi-jaz is to every 
 Muslim, the Caaba of the former is its Nu-fudh. To love one's birthplace is of 
 relis'ion, tausfht Muhammad ; ^ and to life's last moment the heart of nomad o-oes 
 out to the pure soft sand of his Nu-fudh as affectionately as if, like the young 
 of the wild ass and antelope, he were born in it, as indeed may happen. When 
 a tribe on the move is holding Najd-ward, and the swelling white brow of one 
 of these great natural defiles upraises itself, "Al hamdti. /' Illahl^ the Nu-fudh 
 
 1 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 12, vol. i. pp. 157, 158. 
 
 ^ A ' Saying' \y. p. 20, in f.n. 3. Also Index I., art. 
 Ha-dith]. 
 
 ^ Praise be to Allah, one of three phrases ever 
 rolhng ofif the tongue of Arabs. The other two 
 are In ska Allah, if it please Allah: and M& sha 
 Allah, What has pleased Allah, used to indicate 
 surprise, admiration, approval, also by way of (half- 
 and-half) welcome. In an old magazine article 
 
 {op. cit. in Catalog. No. 10, vol. vii., "Selections," 
 p. 4), containing an account of " the Bedouin Arabs 
 of the desert and their horses,'' it is amusing to read 
 that, from fear of the evil eye, when showing a horse 
 to a stranger they never omitted to pray to the great 
 " Macha AUaa ! " This is like Marco Polo's saying 
 of one of the populations of Central Asia, that they 
 were " worshippers of Mahommet " ! 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 PENINSULAR ARABIA. 
 
 39 
 
 again," goes trilling out from thousands of women's voices. Bare, and no more 
 than habitable, as his country may appear to us, the Arab perfectly realises that 
 it was made for him, and he for it. 
 
 Before leaving these " flanks of Najd " we must well view their northern 
 segment, the important province of Ja-bal Sham-mar, but just now mentioned. 
 Natural features, boundaries, and iDopulation,^ may all be dismissed with a word. 
 Of the first, the most prominent are the two parallel mountain-ranges of Ja-bal 
 A-ja and Ja-bal Sal-ma. The inhabitants, as everywhere, are mixed nomadic, 
 agricultural, and industrial ; spread over a stony yet not unfertile surface of 
 variegated oases, towns, villages, and homesteads. The authorities on these 
 points are, up to 1862, Palgrave ; thereafter, to 1877, Doughty; to 1879, Lady 
 x^. Blunt. The first resided for a considerable time, in his disguise, in Ha-yil, 
 a town easily accessible from Baghdad in twenty long marches. The second 
 did the same in Arab clothes, or rags rather, but not concealing his nationality. 
 While the third, and her husband, made their entry in the character of "persons 
 of distinction, in search of other persons of distinction." How all these fared, 
 and what they saw, will be found written in their several narratives. Yet it 
 is essential to our subject that, instead of merely referring to works which all 
 may not possess, we should pause to open up to the reader how, within the 
 memory of those still living, a Shekhly filibuster, of the type alluded to in a 
 previous chapter, erected in Ja-bal Sham-mar a petty royalty over townsmen 
 first, and Bedouin afterwards ; how, at the time of writine, whatever of 
 government, in the European sense, middle Arabia enjoys has Ha-yil for its 
 centre. It has been seen how the Wahabite empire,^ twice in its history, has 
 suffered suppression, — early in the century from Egyptian armies ; in our day 
 from internal causes. Among the numerous gallants of desert lineage stirred by the 
 
 ^ In illustration of the variability of statistics, 
 especially of population, compare Palgrave's estimate 
 with Doughty's. The former, in Ency. Brit., vol. ii. 
 p. 254 (1S75), gives 162,000 as the "total popula- 
 tion" of Ja-bal Sham-mar, exclusive of an oblong 
 strip, called by him " Upper Ka-sim," between Sham- 
 mar mountains and valley of Lower Ka-sim ; to 
 which strip he assigns, on hearsay, a further popu- 
 lation of 35,000. According to Doughty, the settled 
 population may be " hardly 20,000 souls : add to 
 these the tributary nomads, Ba-ni Wah-hab, 2500 ; 
 the Bishr in the south, say 3000, or they are less ; 
 northern Harb in the obedience of Ibn Ra-shid, 
 say 2000 ; southern Sham-mar, hardly 2000 ; midland 
 Heteym, say 1500; Sha-ra-rat, say 2500; and be- 
 sides them no more. In all, say 14,000 persons or 
 
 less ; and the sum of stable and nomad dwellers 
 may be not much better than 30,000 souls " {op. cit. 
 in Catalog. No. 2, vol. ii. p. 20). Possibly this 
 huge discrepancy depends on different limits being 
 given to Ja-bal Sham-mar by the two authorities 
 respectively. But how shall we explain Palgrave's 
 (loco cit. supra) allowing "about 15,000 or 16,000 
 souls" to Ha-yil; while Doughty states the num- 
 ber at 3000 souls only — (vol. i. p. 617) ? For a reason 
 which it is unnecessary here to mention, we hold 
 Palgrave's figures of no account. 
 
 - Called also, after the prince whose prowess 
 shaped it, the empire of the Ibn Su-u'ds. As dis- 
 posing the sword-power of all subject to it, the 
 Head of it has, or had, A-mir for title, also Sultan ; 
 and as religious exemplar, I-mam. 
 
40 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. book i. 
 
 troubles of the former epoch to couch the spear at fortune's prizes was A'bdu 
 '11a of Ja-bal Sham-mar ; whose family name was Ra-shid. Finding his native 
 province in the grip of others, this young blood rode out of Ha - yil, with 
 little but his good Sham-mar pedigree to help him. What was written for him 
 proved to be the foremost rank, first in A-mir Tur-ki's, then A-mir Fai-sal's, 
 armies : till when, after many " feats of broil and battle," chiefly through his emi- 
 nent qualities, Najd recovered its independence, A-mir Fai-sal rewarded him with 
 the viceroyalty of its northern appanage, Ja-bal Sham-mar. As always happens 
 in the East, vicarious gradually merged in independent power. A'bdu '11a himself 
 before he died {c. 1844), by knitting to himself his powerful desert kinsfolk, half 
 accomplished this object. His son and successor, Ti-lal, completed it. Numerous 
 influences deadly to Wahabyism issued in his time out of Ha-yil ; great pieces 
 of the Najdian empire, loosened through intrigue or by natural processes, in- 
 cluded themselves, seemingly of their own accord, within his southern and 
 eastern frontiers. In other directions also he put out his hand further and 
 further. His death might easily have undone this ; but it was otherwise 
 ordered. If revolutions are not made with rose-water in Europe, no more 
 are successions always from sire to son in Arabia. Ti-lal left several sons ; 
 the eldest, Ban-dar, barely arrived at manhood. But two formidable brothers 
 also survived him — sons of A'bdu '11a — and one of these took up the Shekhate, 
 only to be cut off after two or three years.^ Then Ban-dar had a turn of it : but 
 all the time the true hero was being kept waiting ; exercising his talents in the 
 office of A-mir, or marshal, of pilgrim armies on the road to Mecca. This brother 
 of Ti-lal was Muhammad — to give him his full name, Muhammad ibn A'bdi '11a, 
 al Ra-shid — at this moment prince of Ja-bal Sham-mar, and foremost man in all 
 Arabia : that is, if before these pages are printed, the fate which he has meted 
 out to so many do not overtake him. 
 
 " The tug of your heart is the voice of your fate," 
 
 says Schiller; 2 and with the proclamation of Ban-dar the "tug" came to Muham- 
 mad, then, as it chanced, at a distance from Ha-yil. x^fter a time he returned, 
 apparently submissive ; but in reality most dangerous. If all that we have to 
 do is to accept Carlyle's word for it that the true Konning, King, or Ableman, sup- 
 posing him to be discoverable, has a "divine right" over us ; if the world's handed- 
 
 1 It is said that Ban-dar, aided by his next 
 brother, Badr, obtained the chiefship by shooting 
 down his uncle, Mut-a'b. Doughty gives one version 
 of it in vol. ii. pp. 14 and 15 of his "Travels" ; the 
 only feature of improbability in which is, that a brother 
 
 of Ti-lal, himself a travelled man, should have suf- 
 fered two such young scapegraces to make a target of 
 him from a loophole inside his own castle. 
 - In Wallenstein. 
 
CHAP. III. ■ PENINSULAR ARABIA. 41 
 
 clown traditions both east and west the Caucasus have aught of prescription 
 in them, — then may the method in which, on a spark falHng- on the powder, 
 this man made himself master of Ja-bal Sham-mar, admit of justification ; 
 but Arabia, to her credit, does not think so. The massacre by him of his 
 nephews and cousins is described both by Lady A. Blunt and Mr Doughty — 
 with some variety of detail naturally, seeing that Ha-yil has no newspapers. In 
 its essential features, the story appeared long ago in Judges (ch. ix. 5) ; where 
 we are told how " Abimelech went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and 
 slew his brethren, the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, 
 upon one stone." Muhammad's victims were not so many ; but his work was 
 equally well finished. In one day he despatched with his own hand A-mir Ban- 
 dar ; and seizing the castle, or palace, had every male who could be found of 
 the stock of A'bdu '11a butchered before him. In Arabia a man is not con- 
 sidered murdered till every one on whom devolves, or may at a future time 
 devolve, the sacred duty of avenging him is sent to the same bourn ; and this, if 
 restraining the wolfish appetite, makes the work go merrily on when started. It 
 further seems — and here the Arab resembles the tiger — that no one who has once 
 discovered the fine effects of man-killing^ will afterwards condescend to smaller 
 practice. A-mir Muhammad's dagger-exploits now amount to a large number. The 
 first to bring such topics under artistic treatment speaks of a " most brilliant con- 
 stellation of murders, comprehending three Majesties, three Serene Highnesses, and 
 one Excellency," as all lying "within so narrow a field of time as between a.d. 15S8 
 and 1635."^ No Arab since the Crusades ever had the chance of making a score 
 like that. But from the latest accounts it is evident that the " diamond cut dia- 
 mond" policy of the Ja-bal Sham-mar professional — the "murder him before he 
 murder you " method — is progressing. We do not feel discourse of this nature 
 to be a straying from our subject. If any reader incline to think so, we ask 
 him to reserve his judgment. The connection between Arabian politics and 
 Arabian horses came out just now, when it was seen in Captain Sadlier's journal 
 how the wars of Wahabyism stripped the country of its mares. The effect 
 of the Ja-bal Sham-mar programme on the stock of the desert will appear 
 presently. Meanwhile we are not done with A-mir Muhammad. Several 
 allusions have been made to the diminished state in our day of the Ibn 
 Su-ii'ds of Najd. The last great prince, so far, of their line, A-mir Fai-sal — he 
 who received Sir L. Pelly — died in 1865. Then broke out those dissensions, at 
 first between his two sons, and afterwards throughout the family, which favoured 
 the growth of the Ibn Ra-shids. So mutually interconnected are the stunting 
 
 ' Mu7-dc7- considej-ed as one of tlie Fine Arts : Thomas De Quincey. 
 
 F 
 
42 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 of the central stem and the out-branching of its Ja-bal Sham-mar offshoot, that 
 the Najdian empire is sometimes even said to have died down in southern, to 
 revive again in northern, Arabia. But this view is superficial. True, in i8S8 A-mir 
 Muhammad crowned his House's triumph over its ci-devant suzerains by swooping 
 down on Ar Ri-adh with machine-guns and breech-loaders, and forcing on it a 
 puppet Government. Not content with that, he accomplished a few months 
 afterwards another piece of family extermination, this time rather in the Tarquin 
 style — that is, by the hand of horsemen sent from Ha-yil struck down mercilessly 
 the tallest poppies in the Najdian garden, Fai-sal's three princely grandsons, Sa-a'd, 
 Muhammad, and A'bdu '11a ; who, unable to brook the family downfall, had fled to 
 Kharj in the adjacent district of Ya-ma-ma, called for its fertility the Paradise of 
 Najd, and famed in Arabian story for the bravery of its men and the esprit 
 of its women. Out of the last-cited performance blood-revenge has followed : 
 numerous panoramic scenes are, as we write, evolving themselves in the desert. 
 Muhammad, if report say true, has sometimes had the worst of it. In a "God- 
 governed " country like Central Arabia it may even be that the " writing on 
 the wall " has appeared to him. We make not this remark to speculate or 
 prophesy of the future. In the prime of life, and full of activity and projects, 
 the Ja-bal Sham-mar chief may not even yet have reached his limits. In 1887, 
 when the writer passed through Sha-mi-ya, he found the two great palm oases of 
 Shi-tha-tha and Rah-ha-li-ya all in a flutter after one of his ghaz-us. Scorning to 
 strike settled folk, he had swept northward like a hurricane — as a few years previ- 
 ously he had done to within sight of Damascus — driving before him his natural 
 enemies the Ae-ni-za. With him were the big caldrons, each able to take 
 in three camels, which the Blunts saw at Ha-yil. Everything about him was 
 magnified by rumour : the size of his squadrons ; the sacks of dollars carried on 
 his camels ; the arms and dresses of his ri-jd-jil or followers. The Arab ideal 
 is thus depicted by the poet A'mr : — 
 
 [The tribes know] that we are spurners when angry. 
 And acceptors when pleased ; 
 Defenders when submitted to. 
 And the devil when defied. ^ 
 
 Similarly another poet : ^ — 
 
 1 The idea in the first two lines probably is that of 
 rejecting and accepting presents — one of the high 
 points of diplomacy with Orientals. Military com- 
 manders who do not understand it may one day so 
 misbestow their gifts as to be mistaken for suppliants ; 
 and the next, accept an offering from those whom 
 
 tliey intend to punish, without realising that their 
 doing so means alliance. An excellent proverb of the 
 Arabs is : Be 7ione so sweet as to be swallowed j and 
 none so bitter as to be spat out. 
 
 2 In the classical anthology Al Ha-ma-sa : Frey- 
 tag's edit., p. 47. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 PENINSULAR ARABIA. 
 
 43 
 
 White [i.e., bare] are the parting-places of our hair : ^ ever on the boil our flesh-pots : 
 
 AVe compromise from our flocks and herds the blood-revenges due by us : - 
 
 Mine the race to whose founders ever was fatal 
 
 The cry of the combatants, " Ho ! where are the front-fighters ! " - ^ 
 
 All this well describes Muhammad. Starve your dog and he zuili follozu you, 
 fatten him and he zvilL bite you, is an Arab proverb ; but such churlishness has no 
 place at Ha-yil. Fear first, brotherhood afterwards ; pitiless smiting to-day, kissing 
 and feastino- and beine friends to-morrow, is the A-mir's method. Out of an 
 annual revenue of, as estimated, _2/"40,ooo (in kind and silver), Doughty sets down 
 ^^1500 as going- up the chimney of the public guest-house. Another secret of his 
 popularity is the firmness of his rule, and the even-handed justice, free from 
 bribery and the craft of clerks and lawyers, which, seated literally " in the gate " 
 like David, he daily dispenses at Ha-yil.^ None can level at him the reproach 
 cast on Mah-mud of Ghaz-ni by an old woman whose son had been taken by 
 banditti in his Persian provinces — " Keep no more territory than you can rightly 
 govern." Travellers know that they are in his country from there being no 
 longer any robbers. Yet with all this let none suppose that Ja-bal Sham-mar fills, 
 or ever will fill, the place of the old Najdian empire. Patriotism may be put aside. 
 The use and purpose of all the web of confederacy which the A-mir's wits have 
 woven is simply what the immortal Squeers so racily described, the " swelling of 
 one " at the cost of many, — the putting into Master Wackford the fatness of twenty, 
 or twenty thousand. So far as that goes, the Ibn Su-u'd dynasty also might perhaps 
 be included in the same category. But in one highly important respect, as must be 
 familiar to many of our readers, that was sui generis. Not only because of its exten- 
 sion ; at its best it reached from shore to shore, and a Su-u'd was able to dictate to 
 the Porte the terms on which the pilgrimage to Mecca would be permitted. Not 
 even because of its intensely national character ; the central provinces of A'ridh, 
 Ya-ma-ma, and Sa-dir produce the flower of the Arab race. To understand what 
 the Najdian empire was, its other epithet of Wahabite needs recalling. How 
 the Islamic new-birth termed Wahabyism was developed : how the author of it 
 
 1 That is, from helmet. Compare Ezek. xxix. 18. 
 In the Abyssinian expedition the writer, from wearing 
 every day and all day an unventilated helmet, turned 
 partially bald — a hint for young soldiers. 
 
 ^ This refers to the Arabs' insistence on blood for 
 blood. So powerful was the speaker's tribe, that 
 those who had vengeance to wreak against them were 
 fain to accept the blood wit, instead of carrying on 
 the feud. 
 
 2 Thus Mr Doughty : " I have never heard any 
 one speak against the Emir's true administration 
 of justice. When I asked if there were no hand- 
 
 ling of bribes at Ha-yil by those who are near the 
 Prince's ear, ... a tale was told me of one who 
 brought a bribe to advance his cause at Ha-yil ; and 
 when his matter was about to be examined he privately 
 put ten reals into the Kadhi's (judge's) hand. But the 
 Kadhi rising with his stick laid load upon the guilty 
 Bedouin's shoulders until he was weary ; and then he 
 led him over to the Prince, sitting in his stall, who 
 gave him many more blows himself, and commanded 
 his slaves to beat him." — {Op. cit. in Catalog". No. 2, 
 vol. i. p. 607.) 
 
44 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. book i. 
 
 — himself but a scholar and preacher — made kings and warriors repeat its stern 
 negations and advance its banners, will be glanced at when we come to speak 
 in another chapter of the Bedouin. Here this passing reference is merely to 
 the essential difference between a religious kingdom of that description and the 
 purely secular edifice of the Ibn Ra-shids, founded on the Kur-an but slightly; 
 on fanaticism and orthodoxy not at all ; on dollars, Martini Henrys, and personal 
 force of character chiefly. At Ha-yil all is compromise. Toleration and the pro- 
 motion of free coming and going is the key-stone : yet even Wahabyism is not 
 utterly broken with. The Ottoman Government also has to be humoured. No 
 such burning deserts intervene between Baghdad and Ja-bal Sham-mar as those 
 defending the southern capital ; in one of which a whole Egyptian army died of 
 thirst. A Turkish division marching from Na-jaf would pitch its tents before 
 Hi-yil in less than a month ; and although the town is fortified, shelling would 
 astonish it. To avert such unpleasantnesses the A-mir has no objections to call 
 the Sultan Master, and even pray for him, provided it pass no further. A see-saw 
 goes on between them in respect of making use of one another. The "successor 
 of the Caliphs" hates the Wa-ha-bis ; by whom "Turks and infidels" are classed 
 together : but he sees the advantages of having his rough work in Central 
 Arabia done for him by a policeman of Muhammad's calibre. So also does it 
 please the other to maul his rivals in the Sultan's name. After every feat of 
 free-fighting he writes a letter to the nearest Turkish governor, describing himself 
 effusively as the Sultan's servant. This adroit foreign policy is played by him 
 as much as possible over the head of his tribal following. If he were to show it 
 too much, for instance, by letting himself be dubbed a Pasha, half of his strength 
 would fall from him. The shadowy claim indulged in by the Sultan of Riim, in 
 virtue of an alleged inheritance from the Arabian Caliphs to sovereignty over all 
 Arabia, counts for nothing with the " nation that is at ease, that dwelleth with- 
 out care ; which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone." ^ So opposite 
 is the effect of titles of honour in natural and artificial bodies respectively, that 
 the Ja-bal Sham-mar chief would take less harm from a series of checks in 
 ghaz-tt than from putting on a Constantinople robe and ribbon. Without dwell- 
 ing further on the contrast between this composite northern structure and the 
 severely simple Najdian monolith to the south of it, let us note in passing the 
 A-mir's own full perception that Ja-bal Sham-mar is not Najd. The Blunts had 
 proof of this. When they talked of going from Ha-yil to Ar Ri-adh, the A-mir 
 " made rather a face at the suCTgrestion, and eave such an alarmino- account of 
 what would there happen " to them, that they thought it wiser not to attempt it.^ 
 
 ^ Jer. xlix. 31 : Revis. Vers. | 2 Qp_ ^it_ ;„ Catalog. No. 12, vol. i. p. 254. 
 
CHAP. III. PENINSULAR ARABIA. 45 
 
 Even the Diogenes-tempered Doughty, though he visited many parts of Najd, 
 did not venture to approacli the dangerous centre of Reformed Islamism.^ In 
 one respect if in no other, Ha-yil may be considered now to fill the place of 
 Ar Ri-adh. Partly because he is an Arab, partly to mount himself and his paladins 
 in foray, its A-mir has a stud of horses rivalling Solomon's. Doughty says of 
 him that he 
 
 " is a rich cattle-master ; so that, if you will believe them, he possesses forty thousand camels. 
 His stud is of good Najd blood ; and as A'li 'el Ayid told me (an honest man and my neigh- 
 bour, who was beforetime in the stud service — he had conducted horses for the former Amirs 
 to the Pashas of Egypt), some 300 mares and 100 horses with many foals and fillies. 
 After others' telling, Ibnu Rashid has 400 free and bond soldiery ; 200 mares of the blood ; 
 100 horses: they are herded apart in the deserts, and he has lOO bond-servants (living 
 with their families in booths of hair-cloth as the nomads) to keep them. Another told me 
 the Amir's stud is divided in troops of 50 or 60— all mares, or all horses, together : the 
 foals and fillies, after the weaning, are herded likewise by themselves. The troops are dis- 
 persed in the wilderness, now here now there, near or far off, according to the yearly springing 
 of the wild herbage. The Amir's horses are grazed in nomad wise ; the fore-feet hopshackled, 
 they are dismissed to range from the morning. Barley or other grain they taste not ; they are 
 led home to the booths and tethered at evening ; and drink the night's milk of the she-camel 
 their foster-mother. So that it may seem the West Najd prince possesses horses and camels 
 to the value of about a quarter of a million of pounds sterling, and that it has been gotten in 
 two generations of the spoil of the poor Bedouin." 
 
 Not a doubt of it ; and many a curse is on his head for it. Sa'-di says that ten 
 dervises can sleep on one blanket, and two emperors cannot be contained in one 
 continent. And the nomad needs as ample elbow-room. Fertile of rulers as is the 
 Arab blood, the spread of big Governments affects the martial clans of Najd much 
 as that of drainage and cultivation does certain classes of animals. Turkish rule 
 reaches them only here and there. In the Porte's Asiatic provinces, the problem of 
 the submission of superior races to an inferior one has its solution partly in the 
 looseness with which the Osmanli sit. Inside of flag- towns, were it not for the 
 power of a gift over them, the Government establishments would be intolerable : for 
 the surrounding country they form little more than a Sultan's sign-board. If Turkey 
 had it in her to hold her Asiatic provinces as rigidly as England holds her Indian 
 empire, the end would soon come. But a rdgime like A-mir Muhammad's is another 
 matter. Rooted firmly in Arab soil, and everywhere interlacing with the noblesse 
 
 ^ "Persecution," says Hallam, "is the deadly origi- rather have been said, is the "original" (if by that be 
 
 nal sin of the Reformed Churches." But why of the meant besetting) " sin " of Pharisee, Wa-ha-bi, Papist, 
 
 '''■ Reformed''^ only? If "Reformed" Christianity ap- Puritan — all who have not discovered that no mortal 
 
 proved of Geneva's burning Servetus for " heresy," man can possibly make certain that he and they 
 
 had not Roman Christianity also its Inquisition ? who think with him are right in their beliefs and 
 
 Tolerance is easy to a Gallio : persecution, it should conclusions. 
 
46 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 of the desert, this puts the hook in the nose of all Bedouin who can neither defy 
 nor escape it. As for defiance, the A-mir's imported cannon and ordered troops of 
 horse and camel-riders raise him in Arab eyes to the rank of a " Government." Yet 
 may a pebble bring- down a giant : eloquence especially is still a power in the prac- 
 tical politics of the desert ; combinations kept together by the spear admit of being 
 broken up by the tongue. Islamism, as long as it lasts, will infold within it the 
 seeds of Wahabyism ; and out of the latter there may come again, what has come 
 before, empire ; though the likelihood of it decreases with every year of the 
 world's growth. Apart from life's natural period, a stroke of the Najdian kid-dd- 
 mi-ya} or crooked girdle-knife, may any day remove the A-mir. It has been seen 
 how his stock was extirpated by him. As if in punishment and reprobation, the 
 first craving of every man's heart — a son — has been denied to him : his house's 
 interminable list of deaths and marriages has never had a birth inscribed in it. 
 Whether, when death claims him, another like him will step out, or all this Ja-bal 
 Sham-mar pageant will dissolve and leave not a wrack behind, is a question often 
 mooted by lovers of the wild ways of the desert, the " simple blessings " of Bedouin. 
 Meanwhile, happily for the true nomad, there are 
 
 " Hills beyond Pentland, and lands beyond Forth," ^ — 
 
 spaces in which every freeman is still the other's equal, and the brisk desert air 
 contains no germs of kingship. Not the Osmanli, not the Wa-ha-bi, least of all 
 the Ha-yil princeling, will ever make a Pax Arabica resembling the Pax Bri- 
 tannica. We know of no large portion of the East, except, perhaps, British India, 
 in which the " cankers of a calm world " are among the dangers to be appre- 
 hended. In connection with the A-mir's stud of Arabian horses, the first thing 
 for the reader to remember is Mr Doughty's above-quoted remark, that it has been 
 collected in two generations from the Bedouin proper. Not content with taking 
 the mares of the Ae-ni-za and others from them in foray, he is always on the 
 watch to buy. One day, perhaps, in Damascus or Aleppo coffee-houses the talk is 
 all of some superior colt growing up in this tribe or that. And then, before any- 
 thing can be done about him, the news comes in that he has been bought for Ibn 
 Ra-shid. All the Sham-mar, wherever distributed, are eager to serve him ; every 
 now and then a stalwart African or other messenger passes through Baghdad, taking 
 to him two or three colts or fillies from far-away pastures. Not in the imperial 
 stables at Constantinople, or in any other one place in the world probably, may 
 
 1 So called because worn towards front of girdle. 
 In other districts, where worn more on one side, it is 
 called jam-M-ya, or " side-arms." A third name is 
 shib-ri-ya, lit. span-lengthj like " yard of clay " for a 
 
 tobacco-pipe. In Arab hands two bites of a cherry 
 are seldom made by it. 
 
 ^ Scott, in Doom of Devorgoil, Act ii. sc. 2. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 PENINSULAR ARABIA. 
 
 47 
 
 modern traveller feast his eyes on so many picked Arabians as in his enclosures 
 and pastures. His own favourite mares, 
 
 " In shape and gesture proudly eminent," ^ 
 
 are the flower of the desert. Outside of these are high - class colts and fillies, 
 designed for presentation to majesties. Then we reach the commoner brands, 
 whether home-bred or ghas-n-t^k&n ; yielding the lots sent annually to the Indian 
 market, likewise animals to serve as presents — only another form of selling — 
 to Pashas, visitors, and inferiors. Proverbially, when the Arab gives a cat, 
 he expects a she-camel. Not to speak of the romantic figures of antiquity, 
 even princes seldom bestow gifts for nothing : in ten years we have seen 
 numbers of these Ha-yil gift-horses in the stables of Baghdad officials ; their 
 quality graduated according to the A-mir's idea of what each several recipient's 
 friendship was worth to him. Pilgrims of condition returning through his 
 country from Mecca do not approach him empty-handed. An ancient Indian 
 dame resident since the annexation of Oudh at Kar-ba-la once showed us a 
 very common mare and filly which had been given to her by the A-mir, as a return 
 present for a Georgian beauty bought by her for him in the " Holy City." ^ The 
 bestowal of a first-class horse or mare on an old Indian woman would seem to every 
 Arab contrary to nature ; so that the inferiority of the above, as of certain other 
 specimens which we have seen of the A-rnir's presentation - horses, is noticeable 
 merely as showing that ka-dish-es may come out of Hi-yil. Peninsular Arabia, 
 it is true, does not form, as the country round Baghdad does, a breeding- 
 ground of the animal last mentioned. The poor ka-dish ^ finds one of his chief 
 
 ^ Paradise Lost, Bk. I. 
 
 2 If anywhere inland a blow is to be struck at the 
 transport hither and thither, for sale, of human beings, 
 it is at Mecca ; but so far, not even a Consular 
 Agent represents any foreign Power in the chief town 
 of Al Hi-jaz. The Transcaucasian kingdom described 
 by Marco Polo in his 4th chapter as Georgiana (in 
 Persian Giirj, et Gurg-istan), Christianised since our 
 fourth century, and now merged in the "holy Rus- 
 sian empire" (seat of government, Tiflis), shares 
 with Circassia the distinction of supplying wives 
 to Turkish harems. These are of the Caucasian 
 type, and in youth more like boys than girls. A 
 bevy of them forming the collection of a late aged 
 Indian resident of Baghdad no sooner perceived 
 their master moribund, than they asserted their in- 
 dependence Amazon fashion ; each procuring for 
 herself a husband with the ornaments which the old 
 man had given to her ! If, in that instance, the 
 "whirligig of time" righted a great injury, so very 
 often Georgians bought from Constantinople brokers 
 
 receive an honourable and wifely status. In many 
 other cases, especially in families of Pashas, they are 
 handmaidens only ; till one day Sarah " arranges " a 
 marriage for Hagar ; and some subaltern officer, or 
 other candidate, hopeful of the Pasha's further favours, 
 plays bridegroom to the serving-maid. 
 
 ^ All the rude hydraulic gear included in India 
 under the name of moth {i.e., bucket) is in I'rak a 
 kard (pronounced chard), and in Central Arabia 
 sa-wa-nl {q. v. in Index I.) A cross-beam raised 
 above the well-mouth (or projected over the river) 
 with uprights, and supporting a wooden wheel or 
 roller, forms the framework. Ropes having a huge 
 leathern bag tied to one end, and a camel, ass, or 
 pony harnessed to the other, pass over the wheel or 
 wheels. The plash of the bag in the depths below 
 notifies to the quadraped that he must put his shoulder 
 to it, repacing the descent which leads from the brink, 
 so that the bucket shall tilt into a reservoir or channel 
 what portion of its contents may not have fallen 
 back again through its leaky places in the process 
 
48 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 walks in life — water-drawing — closed to him in Arabia proper. In Al Ha-sa, as 
 seen above, springs and runnels serve the cultivator; in arider parts sa-wd-m, or 
 camel-tackle, not ka-dish cJiards, are fitted to the wells. Yet, for one thing, there is 
 the pilgrim route — Turkish, Persian, Bohemian, quite as much as Arabian. A con- 
 venient place as Ha-yil may be to go to, as long as Muhammad's state continues, 
 for those who without much labour would buy, at the A-mir's prices, genuine horses, 
 such have need to be careful that they take not nondescripts, left behind by Con- 
 stantinople Pashas, Tatar couriers, or Persian Aghas. 
 
 The " flanks of Najd " having thus been looked at, in a more systematic work 
 the nine central provinces enumerated above in a footnote would next be visited. 
 But this would prove interminable ; and our design does not require it. Had it 
 been otherwise, Najd proper would have shown to us, here, continuations of 
 Nu-fiidh land — the towering sides of the valleys as sharp and sheer, but for torrent 
 tracks, as if they had been cloven out of the limestone or sandstone plateau ; there, 
 elevated, and but slightly fertile, champaign-land, checkered by peaked and rocky 
 mountain-barriers. In the depths of the Nu-fudh, oasis-hamlets of the ahl ma-dar^ 
 would have attracted us ; many of them cultivated by families of a horde or nation 
 the main body of which is nomadic. In the busy upland townships, more of 
 buying and selling, irrigating and ploughing, than of horse-breeding would have 
 been noticed. But enough for the present of attempts at description. In our 
 opening pages, as will be remembered, we saw how Najdian Bedouin make shift 
 when pasture fails. The remainder of this chapter will be given to considering 
 how, in the riverless peninsula, they whose heritage is the thirsty desert contend 
 with the want of water. The inhabitants of countries in which no sound is more 
 familiar than that of the falling rain, and clear streams are always running, can 
 scarcely realise the opposite conditions, or how natural they appear to those who 
 are accustomed to them. 
 
 Najdian ballads afford frequent glimpses of how, in good years, the land receives 
 its allotted share of water. The masters of Arabian poetry, in the scarcity equally 
 of animate and inanimate objects Avhich the desert life offers, never tire of 
 describing how, in winter, sterile mountains bring down the rain - clouds ; how, 
 for several days afterwards, the Nu-fudh below run like rivers, so that plashes 
 remain till early summer ; while the main body of the current, sinking underground, 
 reissues in the form of springs in distant lowlands. Such a sketch from Nature is 
 
 of ascent. Such is the force of association, that the 
 undescribable creak of this rickety construction, in 
 all which there is not a piece of sound carpentry, 
 and which needs mending daily, though it may 
 irritate the fretful, makes sweet music to those who 
 
 have known what it was to hear it after spells of 
 desert travel. 
 
 ^ Lit. mud-folk: opp. oi A/d-wabar, tent- (lit. hair-) 
 folk. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 PENINSULAR ARABIA. 
 
 49 
 
 the following, having for its scene the palm oasis of Tai-ma, where, on the west, 
 Nu-fudh land slopes into Al Hi-jaz : — 
 
 Comrade, seest thou the lightning ? look how it gleams ! like the flash of a pair of hands amid the 
 
 turreted clouds ! ^ 
 Was yon its light ? or the lamps of an anchoret - \yho has turned the oil on the twisted wicks ? 
 I sat watching it [the cloud] with my companions, between Dha-rij and Al U'-dhaib ; far away was the 
 
 object of our gaze : 
 On Ka-tan, I guess, the downpour of its right ; and of its left, on Si-tar and Yadh-bul : 
 Then it poured out its deluge on Ku-tai-fa ; throwing down on their chins the great trees of Ka-han-btxl : 
 And there passed over Ka-nan of its flying scud; making the mountain -goats come down from it by 
 
 every path : 
 And in Tai-ma it spared not the stem of a single date-palm ; and not a keep save those built of stone : 
 [Mount] Tha-bir, in the first burst of its rain, was like an Elder of the people in his striped cloak : 
 The top of Al Mu-jai-mir's head, in the midst of the torrent and its wrack, looked in the morning like the 
 
 whorl of a spindle." 
 And it [the rain-cloud] cast down on the plain of Al Gha-bit its burden ; the alighting of a merchant of 
 
 Yemen — him of the bales, — the caravaner. 
 In the morning, 'twas as if the singing-birds of the valley had sipped for their early draught the first flow 
 
 of the grape's pure juice, mixed with spices ; * 
 Thick at eve as the roots of the wild-onion, on its [the torrent's] distant margins, the beasts of prey 
 
 drowned in it. 
 
 Nearly fourteen hundred years have passed since these verses of Im-ru '1 Kais ^ 
 first won the hearts of Arabs. Here they are used to illustrate the Najdian 
 climate rather than for ornament : wherefore fidelity to the original is better than 
 metrical paraphrase. But he who would have them in long metre imitating, with 
 variations, the original, will find them so reproduced, as elegantly as truly, in Mr 
 C. J. Lyall's Translations of Ancient Arabian Poetry.^ Apart from views of 
 inanimate nature, the poem which contains them, consisting of some eighty 
 couplets, descriptive, lyrical, and rhetorical, sets us down in the midst of the old 
 life of Arabia, much as Burns's poems do in the kirks and farm-houses of western 
 
 ' A simile perhaps referable to the great natural, 
 
 or unnatural, order of " conceits " ; yet the reverse 
 
 of whimsical for Arabs, in whose discourse the hands 
 
 move as rapidly as the tongue. La-bid says, in a 
 
 poem contained in the Vienna edition of his Di-wan — 
 
 As if in the tops of the clouds, tliere were women clapping 
 their hands. 
 
 - V. Index I., art. Der. 
 
 ^ The above place-names, except Gha-bit and Mu- 
 jai-mir, belong to mountains bounding the view from 
 the only slightly elevated site of Tai-ma. Camels 
 are still unloaded in the hollow of Gha-bit ; the land- 
 mark of which is the low hill (perhaps only cairn) of 
 Mu-jai-mir. The likening of the top of this, standing 
 out amid the drift, to the notched "whorl" of the Arab 
 spindle showing through a coil of twisted wool — " met- 
 
 aphor with a surprise" of Aristotle — like the compari- 
 son in Canticles of a black beauty with the " tents of 
 Kedar," — fulfils at least one poetic canon, adaptation 
 to the audience. In Persia it is proverbial that the 
 wise man who is seated with Maj-nfin speaks to him 
 of no other subject than Laila's beauty. 
 
 ■• " I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine." — 
 Cant. viii. 3. A well - annotated collection of the 
 parallelisms, not in allusion only but in colouring 
 and texture, occurring in " the choicest of the songs 
 of Solomon " and the earliest known Arabian poems 
 respectively, might prove useful to students of the 
 former. 
 
 ° V. Index I., art. Im-ru 'l Yi\\% (more classically, 
 Im-ra-u '1 Kais). 
 
 •^ Williams & Norgate : 1885. 
 
so COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. book i. 
 
 Scotland a century ago. Im-ru '1 Kais's period was before Muhammad's; and he 
 lived and died a pagan. Having it in view, in another chapter, to cull from his 
 ballad a further passage illustrative of a different subject, we may here observe that 
 in his case the "blind minstrel" myth or theory is happily excluded. Not his 
 laurel wreath only, but much of his personal history has been preserved. Authentic 
 records describe him as a prince of Kin-da ; a fifth-century offshoot from the 
 Yemen empire. He seems to have made as much noise in his time with his 
 exploits of war and adventure as with his compositions ; and to have been the hero, 
 and not merely maker and reciter, of his pieces. The name Ma-liHv 'dh dha-lil 
 which has come down with him, when rendered Wandering King, has been 
 taken as showing that even in the days of Arabia's fullest licence he was famed 
 for "roving." His own accounts of himself in his poem fit this view perfectly; but 
 other stories have it that his loves were not returned. At any rate, his above-quoted 
 title takes other meanings more naturally. But to revert to physical feature. No 
 account of passing deluges, especially in districts which receive some of the rain 
 brought up by the S.W. monsoon from the Indian Ocean, should obscure the view of 
 Najdian aridity already given. Towns, of course, maybe omitted; every permanent 
 settlement of human beinsfs has for its first essential a well or river. Neither need 
 we recur to areas "as empty," to use an Arab figure, "as the belly of an ass." 
 Apart from these, and speaking of its Bedouin - tenanted spaces, some of them 
 representing three or four hundred miles of surface, the Arab peninsula, it may 
 be here repeated, has want of water for the most potent cause of its peculiarities. 
 In the Kur-an it is said. We [God] gave life to everything by means of water .-"^ 
 and the changes which would follow in middle Arabia from artificial watering- 
 may perhaps be destined in the remote future to yield another illustration of it. 
 It is not surprising that the Bedouin do not think of this ; for, as seen already, the 
 irrigation of their deserts would mean for them a notice to quit. But considering 
 the deficiency, as well as the irregular seasonal ^ distribution, of their rainfall, their 
 making not the smallest attempt to store it says little for their understandings. 
 Or rather perhaps it is that, expecting in their dim natural religion to have every- 
 thing done for them by Allah, their active energies run only in the narrowest 
 traditional grooves. In other ways, also, this extreme dryness tends to stereotype 
 the conditions favouring it. A country thus sealed against all mankind save 
 Bad-US, and all transport save camels, is harder even than Afghan-istan for 
 "openers" to enter; harder still to retire from; hardest of all to retain. Pelly 
 
 fa-rl, " fall of the year," between moderating of the 
 heat and setting in of cold, or cool ; lastly Shi-td, 
 
 1 S. xxi. 
 
 2 With Bedouin the seasons are : Ra-bi, or spring ; 
 KaidJi, time of greatest heat, from (auroral) rising of j our winter : each three months, 
 Pleiades to appearance of Sn-hail, or Canopus ; Sa- 
 
CHAP. III. . PENINSULAR ARABIA. .51 
 
 and other explorers mention having seen the remains of ancient aqueducts in the 
 hills of Najd ; but it is not known whose works they were. The Wahabite 
 empire at all events cannot be credited with them. Instead of repairing the old 
 reservoirs and conduits, the Ibn Su-uds demolished them further. The reason 
 given for this, it is curious to notice, corresponds with that alleged by certain 
 religious oddities long ago in our country, against all contrivances designed to pro- 
 duce artificially benefits which God does not bestow spontaneously ! For common 
 use this argument may have answered ; but any one can understand an A-mir of 
 Najd having the same objection to large-scale irrigation which we islanders have to 
 a Thames tunnel. Here it is needless to dwell too much on the years, or succes- 
 sions of years, of water-famine which periodically smite Arabia ; when, except perhaps 
 within the border of the monsoon, not a shower falls. Then, truly, the nomad's 
 lot is cruel. All the associations of wooing, feasting, and fighting which endear 
 to him the name of Spring vanish out of his life. No filling of the watering-places ; 
 no clothing of his Nu-fudh with white-headed mi-si, most nutritious of herbage ; no 
 milk-flow ; no wandering forth with his flocks and herds over fragrant pastures. 
 The while the stricken tribesmen scatter in search of grass, or gather round any 
 grimy pits or sand-pools in which a little water thick with drift and camel-ordure 
 may have stagnated, a great mortality sets in — greater than one may often see 
 among sheep in Scotland in severe winters. The mares perish first ; then the 
 small cattle ; at last the camels. The children are given away to any one who 
 will take them — thrown, as it were, on Providence : a better way, very likely, than 
 collecting them in parochial "farms" and workhouses.^ Not only in Arabia, but in 
 every other country where horse-breeding is still on primitive lines, hard times 
 similarly come to stock-masters. In Australia and southern Africa, droughts and 
 murrains every ten or twenty years thin the horse-runs. In Najd, the speciality 
 is the scarcity every year, and, more or less, all the year, of the pure element. 
 Mr Doughty thus sets down his experiences in western Arabia, in the tents of 
 the Ae-ni-za ; not in late summer, when the water-supply falls to zero, but in the 
 early spring, when it is at its best : — 
 
 " Sweet and light in these high deserts is the incorrupt air, but the water is scant and 
 infected with camel-urine. Hirfa [wife of his nomad host] doled out to me at Zeyd's 
 commandment hardly an ounce or two of the precious water every morning, that I might 
 wash ' as the towns-people.' She thought it unthrift to pour out water thus when all 
 day the thirsty tribesmen have not enough to drink. Many times between their waterings 
 there is not a pint of water left in the greatest Shekh's tents ; and when the goodman 
 
 ^ In towns of Arabs, the newly born infant whose | of a mosque towards morning prayer-call ; so that the 
 mother may not own or rear it is left on the threshold | first comer may take pity on it, and adopt it. 
 
52 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 bids his housewife fill the bowl to make his guests' coffee, it is answered from their side, 
 ' We have no water.' " ^ 
 
 Another traveller, the Italian, or Levantine, Guarmani,- who in 1863 went 
 over the peninsula buying horses, has it in his journal that among the pariah 
 hordes of the Sha-ra-rat, referred to by us already '^ as having Wa-di Sir-han and 
 the country between Al Jauf and Ja-bal Sham-mar for their di-ras, he heard 
 old men declare that they had never tasted water in their lives ! If it had been 
 in Europe, this would not have sounded so incredible. He might have met 
 the very man of whom the story goes, that once he undertook, for a wager, 
 to tell, blindfolded, the name of every liquor offered to him ; which he did 
 successfully, till there was put in his hand a glass of "Adam's ale" — a tap 
 so strange to him that he had to own himself defeated, and pay up ! But 
 we have never seen or heard of a wine-skin in tent of true nomadic Arab. 
 Arabia is no exception to the statement that all countries have contrived the 
 means of intoxication. It is told in Genesis how the " mocker " obtained pos- 
 session of Noah.^ That — and the connection is significant — occurs in one and 
 the same passage with the intimation that the patriarch " began to be a 
 husbandman" {i.e., a ha-dha-ri), "and he planted a vineyard." It is also re- 
 markable that when Abram, or Abraham — for Arabs the type of Bedouin 
 manners — entertained the three heavenly visitors,^ he set bread and flesh, butter 
 and milk, but not wine, before them. Still more strikingly, we read in Jer. xxxv. 
 of " the whole house," or clan, of the sons of Rechab refusing to drink wine ; 
 not, like the Nazarites (Num. vi. 2-8), under a self-dedicatory vow volun- 
 tarily assumed by individuals, but to preserve the rule of life coming down to 
 them through the ages from their eponymous Shekh or " father," Rechab.^ 
 Even if the inference were to be drawn from these and other indications that 
 the disseverance to this day of Bad-u land from the all but universal realm of 
 Bacchus is of twin growth with the nomadic system, to our thinking many 
 a lamer conclusion has been supported. The surface explanation, lack of means, 
 may at all events be rejected : the Bad-u no more cultivates the tobacco-plant 
 than the vine ; yet it will be seen in another chapter that his pipe Is seldom 
 out. Nor does Islamism offer a solution. Certainly Muhammad must be re- 
 garded as the founder of the greatest total abstinence league in history ; but 
 it will appear elsewhere how indifferent the wandering Arabs are to Kuranic 
 ordinance, except where it is drilled into them by Turks or Wahabis. In 
 the "Days of Ignorance,"'' fermented juice from Syrian vineyards, with 
 
 ^ Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 2, vol. i. p. 21 8. 
 2 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 27, p. 218. 
 2 K p. 15, ante. 
 
 ix. 20, 23. Et V. Gen. xliii. 34. 
 
 ^ Gen. xviii. 1-8. ° V. in Index I., art. Ri-kab. 
 
 ' Name given by Muslim to all the ante-Islamitic 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 PENINSULAR ARABIA. 
 
 S3 
 
 stronger date - spirits, washed down the boiled mutton and camels' flesh at 
 feasts of ha-dha-rt warriors and hunters. At the religious fairs of pagan Arabia, 
 the Bedouin must have witnessed, probably even experienced, all the phantas- 
 magoric symptoms of inebriation, from the first disturbance of the faculties, to 
 the dead-drimk condition. But speaking of the central bodies of the nomad 
 Arabs, we are mistaken if all this did not deepen in them their love of their 
 own mode of life.^ Some would have it that these things follow race ; that the 
 Arab inclines to sobriety as naturally as the Teuton, from Tacitus' time down- 
 ward, does to free drinking ; and that the notion of Muhammad's sermonisings 
 having in this respect changed his countrymen is due to references to wine 
 and wassail in the pre-Islamic poetry being too much taken au sdrieux. But 
 we demur to this. If the praises of wine may be sung by bards whose bever- 
 age is water, such effusions presuppose at least a sympathetic audience. Let the 
 finest thing of this kind in European literature be put out, in Arab dress, in Najd, 
 and no one would listen to it, any more than Englishmen would to verses going 
 over the points of a riding-camel. Moreover, it was not all at once that Muham- 
 mad saw the necessity of making the rule against strong drink absolute. In one 
 passage of the Kur-an, the fruits of the palm and vine, and the saccharine fermen- 
 tations obtained from them, are cited as proofs of God's goodness ; ^ in another, 
 rivers of zvine are included in heaven's charms.® Further, and more conclusive even 
 than the early poetry on the point of old Arabian manners, might be quoted the 
 
 ages. Next to our own, no era ever set out with a 
 more epoch-making incident than that dating from 
 Muhammad's Fhght to Medina (June 20th, a.d. 622). 
 In a few years almost every feature of Arabian civil- 
 isation and town-life was altered by it. Arabian 
 annalists have taken full advantage of the marked 
 division in the national history which is thus pre- 
 sented, to crowd into the later period all the lights, 
 into the earlier all the shadows. This may pass 
 from the religious standpoint, but not from the 
 secular : witness the greatness, both politically and 
 commercially, of the old Sabsan and Minasan Arab 
 sovereignties. 
 
 1 Here an objection may be anticipated. Further 
 on it will be illustrated how full the legendary and 
 poetic lore of Arabs is of drinking-bouts. Such 
 passages may seem to support the inference that the 
 Bedouin before Muhammad were always ready for a 
 revel when a travelling merchant came round with 
 wine, and they had the means to purchase. But, 
 first, it is impossible to determine how far these 
 descriptions referred to Bad-us proper. The Arabian 
 "makers" whose verses have come down, whatever 
 they may have been by blood, were not Bedouin by 
 
 habit. It is idle looking for primitive manners in 
 or near the seats of centralised governments. But 
 the question is, If in prehistoric times the genuine 
 Bedouin drank wine when they could get it, when 
 and wherefore did they cast off this propensity? 
 Apart from the operation of adequate causes, nations 
 do not reverse their social customs. In countries 
 partly tenanted by Arabs, wherever we have travelled 
 with baggage-mules, we have been much applied to 
 for brandy, by Osmanh military officers and others, 
 but never by Bedouin. The passages of the old 
 poetry which go round in desert circles are not those 
 about the wine -jar, but those introducing the bint 
 (maiden) and ghas-u; mare and camel. We ha\-e 
 never seen signs even in the Bedouin who approach 
 Baghdad and Mosul, that the tradition of Jonadab 
 the son of Rechab is observed by them only in the 
 presence of strangers. But even supposing some of 
 them to love the bottle secretly, why secretly, seeing 
 that they do not profess Islamism? 
 
 ^ Sfi-ra xvi. : word used for wine, Sa-KAR, g. v. in 
 Index I. 
 
 ^ S. xlvii. : word used for wine, Khamr, q. v. in 
 Index I. 
 
54 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 injunction, put out doubtless on some special occasion, against the coining to prayer 
 in a state of intoxication} Not till later did it reveal itself to the Reformer that 
 rules of moderation, however sufficient for well-off people, are but ropes of sand 
 for the classes who take to drink not from the love of it, but because a 
 dram is easier come by than clothes for the back or food for the belly. And 
 after that there was no more parleying. In utterance upon utterance wine was 
 condemned unreservedly. One text declares heinous sin to be in it : another ranks 
 it with abominations proceeding from Satan ; . . . one of the Tempter s means of 
 sowing enmity and hatred, and turning men aside from the remembi^ance and 
 worship of God? Here we cannot occupy ourselves with the question of whether 
 this rule of total abstinence, in so far as adhered to, has in a thousand years and 
 more acted beneficially, or the opposite, on the Arab race, and on all the peoples 
 which have received Islamism. Authorities are not wanting for the view that " a 
 national love for strong drink is a characteristic of the nobler and more energetic 
 populations of the world ; " that " it accompanies public and private enterprise, con- 
 stancy of purpose, liberality of thought, and aptitude for war." ^ If, instead of a 
 Muhammad, a Bass or an Exshaw ■* had come to Arabia, perhaps the qualities which 
 
 ^ S. iv. : word used for intoxicated, sti-kd-rd, pi. of 
 sak-rdn, v. Index I., art. Sa-KAR. 
 
 2 Kur-an : S. ii. et v. Three other usages of old 
 Arabian life are pilloried with wine in the above 
 quoted "revelations." The first is (Al) IVIai-SIR, a 
 round-game much associated with pagan feasts and 
 hospitalities, in which differently marked arrows 
 formed the " tickets " or " numbers," and hunks of 
 slaughtered camels the stakes. In those early days 
 it is doubtful if even chess {shit-ranj) was known to 
 Arabia : more probably it came later, with cards 
 igan-ji-fa), backgammon {iia?'d), draughts {da-md), 
 and the rest, as the world opened to her. Never- 
 theless all such diversions, except perhaps chess, are 
 held by strait-laced Arab Muslim to stand tabooed 
 by implication. Sin is in the mere condition that 
 the winner shall receive from the loser: not, appa- 
 rently, with much reference to the effects of it on 
 the latter, or to the casuistry of whether money thus 
 pocketed belongs really to its new, or to its cjuondam, 
 master ; but because of Muhammad's condemnation 
 oi Al Mai-sir. The second prohibited thing was the 
 setting up of " sacred stones " (an-sab) ; as to which 
 see in Index I., art. Baitu 'llah : and the third, the 
 having recourse to lots, like the old Homeric heroes, 
 to ascertain what God or fate had willed. In this 
 also arrows {az-laiii), otherwise white pebbles, or 
 ossicles (" bones ") formed the implements ; each 
 having its own " message " or intimation marked on 
 
 it. It is impossible to consider in a footnote what 
 effects Muhammad produced at the time and after- 
 wards on these several phases of primitive manners. 
 One of them, the symbolising of the divine by the 
 erection of stones, received from him unquestion- 
 ably a final blow. In regard to the others, all de- 
 pends on the type of Islamism. Whei'e that is lax 
 and devious, poets like Ha-fiz extol the grape-juice 
 as more to be desired and sweeter than the kiss of 
 maidens : before a journey millions draw a fdl (omen) 
 from poet's verses, as in Europe "pricking for texts " 
 is practised on the Bible : from Indus and Oxus to 
 Mediterranean gambling- flourishes among Muslim. 
 Yet there are in all those spaces, as well as in India, 
 middle Arabia, and Africa, millions who refuse the 
 wine-cup, not like the Bedouin merely on traditional 
 grounds, but because their Prophet has forbidden it : 
 to whom, for the same reason, divination is accursed. 
 Leaving the question of the good or evil of this, it 
 surely is very remarkable that a growth of darkness 
 like divination, uneradicated to this day in Europe, 
 should in Arabia have so far yielded to one man's 
 fiat ; and that the same influence should so many 
 hundred years ago in the same country have devel- 
 oped an attack on strong drink such as only the 
 present century has witnessed in the United Kingdom 
 and America. 
 
 ^ Quoted in Ency. Brit., vol. vii. p. 482. 
 
 ^ Not long ago there lived in Bengal an old Hindu 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 PENINSULAR ARABIA. 
 
 55 
 
 advanced her to the height of greatness would have been so sublimated as to fix her 
 there for ever ; though it deserves remembering that even now, by her religion 
 and institutions, she gives law to many of the realms which have been lost to her. 
 Contenting ourselves with the conclusions that not only the Kenites, of whom was 
 Rechab, and who as a branch of the Midianite nation are traceable to Abraham and 
 Keturah, but the nomadic Arabs generally, have from the first " drunk no wine " ; 
 and that the Mecca lawgiver, sent as he believed to restore the faith and traditions 
 of Abraham, exerted his authority to transmute this natural piece of desert absti- 
 nence into a taboo resting on a " revelation," — it is time to notice how the Bad-u, 
 importing no artificial beverage, and often for long periods without water, is saved 
 from drying up. The Moses of his wilderness, as but few readers can need 
 reminding, is his she-camel. Speaking for a moment generically of this oldest 
 of living mammals,^ the slightest glance at Arabia shows the magnitude of the 
 services that have been rendered by him, in enabling mankind to explore and 
 populate portions of the earth's surface which but for him would have remained 
 uninhabited. Townsmen may call him "stupid" — the stupider, in many instances, 
 the servant, the better for the master — or laugh at his long legs and hump back ; but 
 Najdian nomad prizes him as " God's own bounty." ^ Truly he is so : and whether 
 the earth "brought him forth" suddenly, or he was developed joint by joint in 
 the course of ages, is not very material. The Arab life could not go on without 
 him. Almost every word in the Arabic dictionary, whatever may be its first mean- 
 
 who was very fond of brand)'. When his eldest son 
 retiu-ned from a visit to London, and began recount- 
 ing the Presences into which he had been admitted, 
 the father eagerly asked him whether he had seen John 
 Exshaw ! Yet this state of things in India should not 
 be too much identified with English rule. Buddhism 
 and Hinduism go back to such remote ages, that it is 
 useless now quoting- them for practical purposes. In 
 the eleven centuries of partial Muslim conquest and 
 rule in India, the masses were in a ver)' primitive con- 
 dition ; but even then, a taste for noxious licjuors per- 
 vaded considerable sections of them. The late Nizam 
 of Hyderabad, in his zeal for the Kur-an, prohibited 
 the sale of strong drink. The revenue realisable from 
 it he considered would be swallowed up in paying 
 police magistrates and building prisons for its votaries. 
 But never did a well-laid theory prove more futile. A 
 Parsee merchant having a shop outside the city, in 
 British limits, drove a great ready -money trade in 
 champagnes and brandies ; his customers' only scru- 
 ples being against the luriting of their names in his 
 books ! Casks and bottles of the nectar passed into the 
 very palace, in curtained vehicles supposed to contain 
 
 noble dames and veiled beauties ! No such furtive- 
 ness, we hear, is now necessary anywhere in India. 
 Every choice brand in Europe, equally with the 
 most deleterious arracks, is imported. If "the in- 
 visible spirit of wine," as Cassio called it, the "enemy 
 which men put into their mouths to steal away their 
 brains," really be what exalts a nation, then India's 
 prospects were never fairer. 
 
 ^ 6000 camels formed part of the wealth of Job : 
 one link more between the Uz Shekh and the Arabian 
 Bedouin. From a name for the camel {ja-mal) now 
 being common to all the divisions of Semitic speech, 
 while there is no such common name for the ostrich, 
 or for the date-palm and its fruit, a high authority 
 supposes — (i) that the Semites knew the camel while 
 as yet one people dwelling together ; (2) that the 
 central table-land of Asia, near the sources of the Oxus 
 and Jaxartes, the Jaihun and Saihun, where there is 
 the camel, but not the palm or ostrich, was their loca- 
 tion before the breaking up of their language. 
 
 ^ Ba-ra-ka (pi. ba-ra-kdt), now the current ^\'ord 
 with Arabs, Persians, and Muslim Indians for Cod's 
 blessing, means literally Increase of camels. 
 
56 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 ing, denotes before we are done with it some part, or product, or liabit of the camel. 
 All Arabia is as redolent of the living beast as a country church in pastoral parts of 
 Scotland is of sheep and shepherds on a wet Sunday. And little wonder, seeing that 
 even his droppings, like those of the cow to Brahman, are pure to nomads. Bedouin 
 mothers wash their babies, and Bedouin girls comb their tresses, in his urine : 
 the desert caravaner who has been baking will run up to his staling camel, collect in 
 his hands the acrid fluid, and clear his fingers with it.^ The dha-lill, or pacing- 
 camel, may be either male or female ; but Arabs naturally prefer for journeys the 
 nd-m, or cow-camel, who as she sfoes can turn the weeds of the desert into milk that 
 is meat and drink in one. In grood seasons the camel kine are in milk most of the 
 year ; and that without requiring, as long as the spring herbage is fresh — two and 
 a half to three months — to be taken to water. At night, when they are driven 
 home, the lads milk them, while their sisters take in hand the smaller cattle. A 
 bowl soon foams under every na-ga, and the sound of the milk-flow sets the mares 
 a-whinnying, so that they are served first ; and then they draw again for the tent- 
 people. A foster-camel is told off for every mare ; and so insufficient is the thin 
 grass of the summer desert to keep the mares fit {or ghas-7i, that when, as the year 
 advances, the camels have to be sent botanising for days together, the mares go 
 with them to drink the nightly draughts. We have seen offence unintentionally 
 given at tables where rechei^ch^ wines were flowing, through a guest's asking for 
 a glass of water. But the greatest sounder of vinous depths never was more 
 disturbed from this cause than a Sha-mi-ya Shekh once was, on our mentioning 
 water, with a skinful of camel's milk hanging on trestles at the tent door. " When 
 the butt is out" — meaning the butt of this chief sustenance of nomads — -"we will 
 drink water, — not a drop before," say Bedouin. Four things in the desert life have 
 chords of their own in every heart — the newly-born male child ; the guest ; the mare ; 
 and the she-camel ; but the last holds a unique place, at once as nursing-mother, 
 and type of wealth or increase. In Im-ru '1 Kais' ballad the horse is not introduced 
 till near the end. But the same effusion cannot go further than its fifth couplet 
 without bringing in the camel ; while further on are two vivid sketches, depend- 
 ing for their interest not so much on the poet's charmers as on how, in the first, 
 he slaughtered his dha-lul to feast a band of maidens, and amused himself by 
 making them carry on its trappings ; in the second, got up into the fair U'nai-za's 
 camel litter. His contemporary, A'n-ta-ra, or A'n-tar, happening in his third couplet 
 to mention his na-ga, instantly breaks off into a laudation of her. So much does 
 perception wait on association, that the na-ga actually forms a type of beauty for 
 
 1 These several statements rest on the authority of 
 Doughty {v. his vol. i., pp. 212, 237, et 340). But the 
 writer, from what he has either seen or heard, can 
 
 bear witness to them. Compare the Scottish custom 
 noticed in Adam Black's Memoirs, p. 27, of uiash- 
 hig the head 'with whisky J 
 
CHAP. III. PENINSULAR ARABIA. S7. 
 
 Arabs. ^ Even her voice, so harsh to us, furnishes them with an ideal. Another 
 member of the " tuneful quire " just quoted from ^ admiringly compares the warbling^ 
 of a beautiful glee-maiden with the utterances of a imrsing-camel over a dead young 
 one I Tried by more practical tests than the poetical, the relative value of the mare 
 and the na-ga is regulated by circumstances, and above all by locality. When either 
 animal is pitted against a bag of sovereigns, the choice depends on how much 
 the bag contains ; and the nomad's spiral fingers may be seen counting every coin 
 through the material of the bag, all the time that he is saying how useless money 
 is, compared with his four-footed treasure, the bringer forth of others like her. 
 But when the same man has to choose between the mare and the na-ga, sometimes 
 his wits are puzzled. Guarmani mentions his once giving a hundred camels in Najd 
 for three desert stallions in the full vigour of their age ; two, deep bay, nearly black 
 — we take it " Voltigeur's colour" — the other, bay with black points. He at the 
 same time informs us, after the manner of horse-buyers, that this deal was effected 
 only because of certain favouring circumstances ; and that often a hundred camels 
 are given for one stallion of the very highest class, such as, according to his state- 
 ment, Bedouin prize above the mare, keep in separate pastures, and ride only in the 
 hour of peril.* This representation, in so far as it shows to us the Bedouin riding 
 stallions, is too novel to be accepted on one man's authority ; but without doubt 
 Najd is incomparably more prolific in camels than in horses ; ^ so that a whole string 
 of the former may be bartered in it for one of the latter. It will be seen further on 
 that the conditions in this respect are very different in Euphrates land. 
 
 The central thread of these remarks, it will be remembered, is, how does 
 Najdian nomad overcome the want of water ? Such further details as belong to 
 this subject will fall in conveniently if we now recur, adverting more particularly 
 to Central Arabian Bad-u land, to the question approached, with reference to all 
 the peninsula, in our preliminary chapter, — is the horse-yield full or inconsiderable ? 
 Palgrave has the following observations : — - 
 
 In Najd — " a horse is by no means an article of everyday possession, or of ordinary 
 and working use. War and parade are, in fact, almost the only occasions on which it is 
 employed ; and no genuine Arab would ever dream of mounting his horse for a mere peaceful 
 journey, whether for a short or a long distance. Hence horses are the almost exclusive 
 property of the chiefs ; who keep them for themselves, and often for the equipment of their 
 armed retainers ; and of a few wealthy or distinguished individuals, who regard them as an 
 investment of capital or an ornament of social rank. . . . Military enterprise and the cen- 
 
 1 jfa-mal, generically in Arabic The Camel (also, 
 par excellence, the male), has among its essential 
 meanings that of comelmess, or beauty. 
 
 - Ta-ra-fa, c. 600 a.d. : t. Index I., art. (Al) Mu-a'l- 
 
 LA-KAT. 
 
 3 Lit., making a note come back. 
 * Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 27, p. 41. 
 ^ Arabs call it Ummu 7 ib-il., or Mother of camels; 
 not Ummu 7 khail, Mother of horses. 
 
 H 
 
S8 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. BOOK i. 
 
 tralisation of wealth and power enabled the Wa-ha-bi chiefs of recent date to collect and 
 rear a greater number of horses than had perhaps ever before been possessed by a single 
 Arab potentate ; and the stables and pastures of the Sultan of Du-rai-i'-ya may well have, as 
 has been stated, contained io,ooo horses, since those of his much enfeebled successor at Riadh 
 are told off at nearly half that amount. But if we allow 20,000 for the total census of pure 
 breeds in Najd, a full allowance, and assign an equal number to the rest of the peninsula, thus 
 making 40,000 in all, we shall still be rather in danger of an over than of an under statement." ^ 
 
 Now all this is the merest talk of a townsman ; one who, as touching horses, 
 has not thought out the subject, but would not leave his book unadorned with 
 references to it. From first to last there is not a word of nomads. " Chiefs," 
 whether urban or rural ; " a few wealthy or distinguished individuals ; " and 
 " potentates," so engross him that he never gets within sight of the clans of the 
 open. Lady A. Blunt, as has been seen, on realising at Ha-yil that it would 
 be impossible in Najd to go among the Bedouin, felt her curiosity sated ; and 
 joining a train of pilgrims, soon reached Baghdad ^ — no more Arabia than Cairo 
 is Arabia. The following remarks by her, therefore, too much follow Palgrave : 
 
 " Whatever may have been the case formerly, horses of any kind are now exceedingly 
 rare in Najd. One may travel vast distances in the peninsula without meeting a single horse, or 
 even crossing a horse-track. Both in the Nu-fndh and on our return journey to the Euphrates, 
 we carefully examined every track of man and beast we met ; but . . . not twenty of these 
 proved to be tracks of horses. The wind no doubt obliterates footsteps quickly ; but it could 
 not wholly do so, if there were a great number of the animals near. The Ketherin, a true 
 Najd tribe and a branch of the Ba-ni Kha-lid, told us with some pride that they could mount 
 a hundred horsemen ; and even the Muteyr, reputed to be the greatest breeders of thoroughbred 
 stock in Najd, are said to possess only 400 mares. The horse is a luxury with the Bedouin 
 of the peninsula ; and not, as it is with those of the North [Sha-mi-ya], a necessity of their 
 daily life. Their journeys and raids and wars are all made on camel, not on horseback ; and 
 at most the Shekh mounts his mare at the moment of battle. The want of water in Najd is 
 a sufficient reason for this. Horses there are kept for show rather than actual use, and are 
 looked upon as far too precious to run unnecessary risks." ^ 
 
 A great deal in the above requires, with all conceivable deference, to be 
 qualified. Why, even taking the slight data which are stated in it, if it had been 
 the case that " horses of any kind are now exceedingly rare in Najd," a sub-branch 
 like the Ketherin would not have boasted 100 mares, and the Muteyr or Im-tair 
 400. Darwin made the calculation of the elephant that, supposing a pair to 
 begin breeding at 30, and to go on to 90, bringing forth in that space three 
 pair of young, then at the end of 500 years there would be alive 15 millions 
 of their descendants. Where, then, is the progeny even of the above 500 
 
 1 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 19, vol. ii. p. 241. 1 ^ Qp_ cit. in Catalog. No. 12, vol. ii. p. 13. 
 
 2 V. supra, p. 44. . I 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 PENINSULAR ARABIA. 
 
 59 
 
 mares ? The numbers of the clan U'tai-ba are given in a footnote below, 
 on the sound authority of Doughty, at 6000 ; out of which must surely come, 
 say, 2000 horsemen, or more. We regret that no positive evidence on this 
 subject, resting on our own eyesight, is with us. Nomads and their mares 
 are as difficult to count, even when one is in the thick of them, as the 
 leaves of a forest-tree when a gale is blowing. The fact of large bodies of 
 those Bedouin who have extended outward from Najd, notably the Ru-wa-la, 
 re-entering it most years in winter, adds to the uncertainty. We cannot assign 
 any substantial foundation to Palgrave's figures. Mr Doughty might have 
 collected statistics worthy of acceptance ; but horse subjects occupied him only 
 casually. The professional horse-buyer Guarmani, on finding himself within the 
 enchanted Najdian cavern, may have overdrawn his description of its treas- 
 ures. As for the Arabs, exaggeration on points of number, habitual to all of 
 us, is carried by them to its highest pitch. But looking at all the evidence, from 
 that of the ancient poetry downward, and avoiding equally the one extreme 
 and the other, we can but repeat the statement made in a previous chapter,^ 
 in connection with a view of Burckhardt's, that if from all the di-ras of 
 the untamed nations of the peninsula " all the squadrons could be mustered, a 
 horde, or Urdil, of light-horsemen not wanting at least in numbers, whatever it 
 might lack in discipline and coherence, would display itself. It almost counts 
 for a rule of nature that wherever in Asia or Africa the ghaz-ti life is led by 
 Bad-us, there shall be found the Bad-u mare ; and Najd is no exception. What 
 
 1 V. p. 10, siip7-a. 
 
 - The following list of the nomadic nations of the 
 peninsula, made from records or inquiries, not travel, 
 may serve for want of better. The several headings 
 are comprehensive ; each including an immense 
 number of ramifications. All the nations shown in it 
 are not of the same class. Many consist of warlike 
 mare and camel Bad-us ; while others rather resemble 
 helots. Not impossibly, several of the headings may 
 be those of peoples now absorbed or replaced by 
 others : — 
 
 Al Mur-RA, south of Al Ha-sa. 
 Ba-n{J Hijr, adjacent di-ras. 
 Ba-N^f Kha-LID, north of Al Ha-sa. 
 Da-wa-SIR, ostrich-hunters on skirts of great Red 
 
 Desert. 
 Dha-fir, towards Euphrates. 
 Harb, great and warlike nation, much ramified, of 
 
 Al Hi-jaz. 
 Hi-taim, nomads ; spread all over north of penin- 
 sula, but not accounted Bedouin ; famed for their 
 dha-luls. 
 
 Hu-dhail, shepherd nation of Meccan Arabia. 
 
 Hu-wai-tat, nation (widely diffused and much mixed 
 in character) of Red Sea littoral. 
 
 Im-tair, the hornets of the south ; great horse- 
 breeders. 
 
 Kah-tan, nation of the south ; noble in blood, rich 
 in horses, but in last degree fanatical, truculent, 
 unapproachable. Desert fable imputes to them 
 many savageries, including even the drinking 
 of an enemy's blood as a mark of irrestrainable 
 fierceness. 
 
 Ma'z, N.E. Red Sea littoral, whence, like so many 
 others, they ha\'e pushed into Africa. 
 
 Sha-ra-rat, all round Al Jawf ; nomadic, but squalid. 
 
 Tai, a noble race ; long ago migrated out of Arabia 
 proper, though its roots are still in Najd. 
 
 U'j-MAN, Persian Gulf littoral, from Ku-wait south- 
 ward. 
 
 U'tai-ba, hardy warriors. Desert between Ta-ifand 
 Ka-sim. Their horses excel. " ]May be nearly 
 6000 souls," says Doughty. Stubborn resisters of 
 Ja-bal Sham-mar yoke. 
 
6o 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 the desert Shekh rides or does not ride when merely on the move or hover is 
 immaterial : in order to his mounting his mare when spear-blades shimmer on the 
 horizon, he must always have her with him. As for " luxury" and " show," every- 
 thing of the kind belongs to townsmen. It has just been noticed how in Nu-fudh 
 land the mare, instead of, as on the grassy steppes of Turk-istan, supplying her master 
 with pailfuls of his favourite kttmis} herself drinks up the milk-flow. During an 
 expedition she is a very great charge and trouble. How far the Arabian excels 
 other varieties in power of doing without water will be spoken of elsewhere. Here 
 we need only tell the reader that, although the mare of Najd may not need such 
 bumpers as others that have never thirsted, yet she is not a little burdensome in this 
 way to her master. Water once a-day is the least that will serve her : to keep her like 
 what the Arabs call her, and what she has to be for foray, a "bird without wings," 
 she must dip her muzzle in it oftener. Long ago, when Clive was conquering Bengal, 
 an observant Rajah said that if he had a regiment of Englishmen he would send 
 them to the field in palanquins, to be slipped like bull-dogs under the enemy's 
 nose. The Bedouin's treatment of his mare somewhat carries out this idea. 
 Like the knight's war-horse behind his palfrey, she is led in the wake of her 
 master's riding-camel. A second camel takes the water-supply — a great pile of 
 gurgling goat-skins, which she empties in perhaps a couple of days. These facts 
 speak for themselves. Ere now the reader will have discovered that the Arabian 
 Bedouin, whatever else he may be^ is not fool enough to take all this trouble with a 
 servant not worth it. If the camels provide the mares with sustenance, the mares 
 
 defend the camels : — 
 
 " Useless each without the other," 
 
 as the youthful Hiawatha, deep in dreams of Minnehaha, said within himself 
 of man and woman. " No one in the Sah-ra," says the A-mir A'bdu '1 Ka-dir, 
 
 1 Also spelt koumiss, the staple diink and nour- 
 ishment of the Mongols : described in Schuyler's 
 Turk-istdn (1876) as "sourish to the taste, but not 
 unpleasant, and possessing agreeable exhilarating, 
 though not intoxicating, qualities." Marco Polo 
 likens it to -white wine. The mares are milked into 
 bottle-necked horse-skins ; some stuff is added to set 
 up acetous fermentation ; after which they have to 
 keep at it every now and again during several days 
 with a churn - stick. The Turk - umans take their 
 horses in spring~to opener places than their winter 
 quarters. Foaling follows ; ten days after which 
 the foals are weaned, and their dams driven off in 
 herds, each herd headed by a stallion. Thereafter 
 nearly all their milk goes to the sustenance of their 
 masters. Three times in the twenty-four hours they 
 are brought in droves to the tents to be milked, when 
 
 every weanling is allowed about a couple of minutes 
 at the udder. Among all the hordes of Turk-istan 
 and Turk-menia the Khirghiz come nearest the Arabs 
 in cleverness at " hfting," not sheep and camels, but 
 whole herds, perhaps 500 head, of horses. There 
 is this great difference between them, that the 
 Khirghiz seldom ride mares, but either geldings or 
 entire horses. These they back as yearlings, alleging 
 that otherwise they would grow up unapproach- 
 able. Hence their horses are more or less stunted, 
 while their mares excel in size. Often the Khirghiz 
 get up what they call a baiga or horse-race on a 
 grand scale, over from 30 to 50 miles. Their system 
 of training turns on gradually reducing the grass to 
 about two straws a-day — for the last four or five days 
 not even so much — while mare's milk, fresh or fer- 
 mented, is substituted for water. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 PENINSULAR ARABIA. 
 
 6i 
 
 " cares to possess ten camels till he has a horse to defend them against those 
 who might assail them." And again: "When you see the horses of the f^om 
 [enemy] marching proudly, their heads up, and making the air re-echo with 
 their neighings, rest assured that victory accompanies them. But, on the other 
 hand, when you see their horses marching sadly, with their heads down, without 
 neighing, but lashing themselves with their tails, be sure that fortune has 
 abandoned them." ^ In desert warfare there is no foot-soldiering. Slow-shootinof 
 matchlock - men, perched on camels, represent at once the infantry and artillery. 
 When, if it be a mere foray, the prey is sighted, or if it be a heavier affair, the 
 hostile squadrons, with the help of his long spear every Shekh springs to the 
 ground. Another jump, and the mares are mounted ; and all the riders scour 
 over the empty wilderness, devil take the hindmost, cloaks and shirts and 
 long tresses streaming out as in a flight of witches. Meanwhile the front place 
 in the camel-saddle is taken by the ra-dif, or second man, commonly a kind 
 of henchman, but often a Shekhling who has lost his mare. This fellow 
 opens fire with his clouted musket ; but as for charging on a camel, Balaam 
 might as well have tried it on his ass ! All the fire of her rider's Semitic 
 nature enters into the generous mare. The star on her forehead, or 
 blaze ^ on her face, is the oriflamme of victory. The big ruminant, on the 
 contrary, for once misplaced, is little better than a magnified sheep. Press her, 
 and she will very likely stop and bray ; perhaps sink on her knees and wallow. 
 If, when her rider's piece is empty, a horseman swoop down on him, all that he 
 can do is to jump off and run for it, leaving her as prize of war. When the 
 Bad-u's mare is bounding under him, and the fresh morning air raises his spirits 
 to the highest, one of his cantatas is this : — 
 
 Not for me the dullard camel,^ 
 
 Deck her saddle as they may ! 
 Bounding with her crest uplifted,* 
 
 Dearer far my blood-red bay ! 
 My blood-red bay — a touch will turn her 
 
 In the hottest of the fray ! 
 
 1 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 23, pp. 14 et 241. 
 
 2 Arabs call a dash of white passing out of the fore- 
 head a glmr-ra, meaning a ivhite?2ess : the colour in 
 their simple minds of good-omened things generally. 
 The Romans, we know, marked their good days with 
 white pebbles, and their bad with black. In Najd, 
 one who meets a white camel goes on his way re- 
 joicing. May thy black days become white ones, is one 
 of their forms of good wishing. 
 
 ^ The word thus translated is dha-liil — lit. meaning, 
 brokenj from d/mll, subjection, or abasement. (2u. 
 
 have we in dhiill and dull a root common both to 
 Semitic and Indo-European languages ? Or is it a 
 mere accidental correspondence of vocabularies ? 
 
 * Afdua cervix of Horace. Some desert horses, 
 when they are cantering, lift up the neck and crest 
 like a serpent, while carrying the head perfectly. 
 La-bid depicts his mare as elevating her neck till 
 it resembled the stem of a palm-tree too passingly 
 smooth for the date-gatherers to ascend it. Another 
 poet likens the long and lifted-up neck of his riding- 
 camel to the rudder of a skiff sailing up the Tigris. 
 
62 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EXODUSES OF BEDOUIN OUT OF NAJD. 
 
 THE aspects of Arabia proper, including the food and water question, in so far 
 as affecting horse-breeding, Iiave now been examined. It might have been 
 stated further that, even inside of the peninsula, a difference between tribe and tribe, 
 in respect of the size and number of their horses, is perceptible, according as its 
 di-ra lies in the more rainless middle tracts, or, like the country of Kah-tan and 
 U'tai-ba, nearer the south, within reach of the yearly monsoon. ^ It will be seen 
 in the sequel how this view is confirmed by observations made outside of Najd, 
 in the desert pastures of the Euphrates. The mere fact of those trans-peninsular 
 regions which we are to enter in the next succeeding chapters being tenanted 
 partly by Najdian nomads yields an illustration of it. We have already reckoned 
 among the causes of Bedouin migration northward all the political passages which 
 were glanced at in connection with the Wahabite empire and the Ja-bal Sham-mar 
 Shekhate. But, that admitted, it is well in evidence that the movements out of 
 Najd chiefly have depended on what has sent, with us, the Celt into the Lowlands — 
 nay, the Scot himself into England, and into " New Caledonias" all over the world 
 — want of food at home ! 
 
 Not to go back to the migrations of antiquity, like that of the Tai - into the 
 
 1 " The men of the north ; the horses of the south," 
 is a saying in Najd ; where it is not the case that the 
 pure-bred Arabian everywhere is of small stature or 
 stunted. Once, on the Euphrates, we met officers of the 
 Sultan's stables leading to Constantinople a bay horse 
 very like one of our o\\n Beacon course performers, 
 which we were informed had lately been taken in foray 
 from the southern nation of Kah-tan. At the time we 
 doubted it, owing to what is stated in books about 
 Najdian horses all being small. Subsequently we 
 have come to know better ; and the pity is that these 
 
 Kah-tan are too dangerous and fanatical for anybody 
 who is not one of them to venture near them. 
 
 ^ In Aramaean or Syriac, Ta-yo-ye supplies a com- 
 prehensive name for all Arabs ; from which we learn 
 that tlie Aramseans anciently had the Tai for neigh- 
 bours. The tallest and noblest-looking Arab ever 
 seen by us was a snowy-bearded patriarch of the 
 Tai — a wealtliy camel -owner of Arbil (ra "Ap^-qXa), 
 not far from Mosul. H^-tim, whose generosity is 
 still proverbial, was of the Tai. A legend of him is 
 related by Layard : how when the fame of a mare 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 EXODUSES OF BEDOUIN OUT OF NAJD. 
 
 63 
 
 Tigris pastures, the exits cliiefly bearing on our subject are the pushing north- 
 ward, not so very long ago, of the two great rival nations of the Ae-ni-za and 
 Sham-mar : the former into Sha-mi-ya, better known to Europeans as the "Syrian," 
 also " Palmyrene," desert; the latter, into the important territory between or on 
 the upper and middle Tigris and Euphrates, having for its best-known land- 
 marks Urfa and Rak-ka, Mosul, Na-si-bin, and Di-ar-bakr, and called by Arabs 
 Al Ja-zi-ra. Nothing could be closer than the connection between both those 
 great departures of the Arabes Scenitcv, or Tent Arabs, and the later history 
 of the Arabian horse. For one thing, he has enormously increased in numbers 
 in the "pastures new" thus opened out to him. For another, Najdian race 
 purity has undergone considerable alteration in the new localities. Reserving 
 such topics, here let us speak merely of the exoduses. It is not in question 
 that both proceeded from Najd. It is also well ascertained that the Ae-ni-za, 
 said by Lady A. Blunt to be to the Sham-mar as seven to three,^ were the first 
 to migrate. No records exist of the several detachments in which, tribe after 
 tribe, or family after family, these first entered Sha-mi-ya.^ But the famous 
 Darley Arabian came from the Ae-ni-za. It is further known that he was 
 procured from his breeders, and sent to England, in the beginning of the 
 eighteenth century. And hence it is to be inferred that two hundred years 
 ago the pointing northward of the Ae-ni-za had begun. Soon Sha-mi-ya was 
 overrun by them ; and that it formed, say a hundred years ago, what it still is, 
 one of the greatest breeding-grounds of the Bedouin horse in all Arabia, may be 
 gathered from Burckhardt's writing that if any of the European Powers required 
 
 in his possession had travelled to the Golden Horn, 
 and the Greek emperor (it happened before the 
 Turkish conquest) sent men to buy her, it was found 
 on their disclosing their errand that the priceless 
 treasure had been slaughtered for their entertain- 
 ment, a time of famine having spared neither sheep 
 nor camel. Comparatively recently a minor diffi- 
 culty — want of firewood — was thus got over by a 
 Shekh of the Sham-mar when strangers came to him. 
 A tra\-elling" merchant happened to be passing, with 
 bales of coarse cotton cloth upon his camels. A 
 number of his bales were taken to the guest-tent, and 
 their contents torn up and soaked in melted butter. 
 A fire was made with this, and the coffee-pot set 
 a-boiling, and a dinner cooked that satisfied eveiy 
 one. Such is desert hospitality. 
 
 ^ By this authority the Ae-ni-za tents are estimated 
 approximately at 30,000, and the Sham-mar at 12,000 
 or 12,500 ; representing, at four to a tent, the for- 
 mer 120,000, the latter 50,000 souls. Palgrave, while 
 giving as the principal subdivisions of the Ae-ni-za, 
 
 the Sba' on the north, the Wald A'li on the west, and 
 the Ru-wa-la on the south, and assigning to them all 
 the space between Syria and Ja-bal Sham-mar, guesses 
 about 30,000 lances as what, if united, they could mus- 
 ter. Burckhardt's estimate, made fully half a cen- 
 tury earlier, allowed to the Ae-ni-za a total of no 
 fewer than from 300,000 to 350,000 souls. 
 
 Of the Sham-mar Palgrave says that their num- 
 bers about equal those of the Ae-ni-za ; but this 
 view is at variance with common Arab belief. All 
 Arabia has it that the palm of valour is as clearly 
 with the Sham-mar as superiority of numbers is with 
 the .\e-ni-za ; in fact, that if the Sham-mar were any- 
 thing like as many as their ri\als, there would be no 
 Ae-ni-za left. 
 
 - Once when marching down the Euphrates valle)', 
 west the ri\-er, we halted for the night on a rocky 
 slope called Tal-d't Mil-him : according to local tra- 
 dition, the spot where a detachment of Ae-ni-za made 
 its first lodgment in Sha-mi-ya, led by a certain Shekh 
 Mil-him. 
 
64 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. book i. 
 
 Arabians to ennoble their studs, Damascus — western gateway of Sh^-mi-ya — was 
 the best place for their purchasing agents to visit.^ 
 
 The Sham-mar exodus from Najd occurred about a hundred years ago. At 
 Mosul old people still refer to it almost as if it had happened in their time, in words 
 reminding one of the mission sent by Moses to spy out Canaan.^ About 1804, they 
 tell us, a Sham-mar free lance, called Abu Ru-wais, or the man with the little 
 head, evidently, however, having a good deal in it, chancing to ride a foray in 
 Sha-ml-ya, followed it up to the Euphrates ; and obtaining from the river's western 
 bank a view of the pastures on the further side, pushed across to explore. Finding 
 the land as fat as Najd was lean, he and his comrades carried back such a descrip- 
 tion as made every mouth water : nay, even took with them bundles of produce ; 
 like the Israelitish tribes, and the " grapes, pomegranates, and figs." Drought, 
 it happened, had brought Najd that year to starvation-point : so that the Sham- 
 mar were only too glad to issue out of it, like eager hornets ; till by degrees, after 
 beating off every opponent, they occupied, Arab fashion, Al Ja-zi-ra. 
 
 Leaving the above two important departures to serve as specimens of very 
 many others, some account of the three geographical spaces which have thus been 
 added to the country of the Arabian horse has to be attempted in the next three 
 chapters. 
 
 ' Op. cit. in Catalog'. No. 15, vol. ii. p. 57. "- Numbers xiii. 
 
6s 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 SHA-MI-YA: or deserts WEST THE EUPHRATES. 
 
 ALL the regions watered by the Tigris and Euphrates, from about Ba-lis on 
 the latter, in lat. 36°, to the Persian Gulf and Arabia proper in the south, are 
 divided by the Arabs into Bd-di-atu 'sh Sham, or " desert of the North," oftener 
 Sha-mi-ya ; Bd-di-atu Y Ja-zi-ra, or " desert of Al Ja-zi-ra " ; and Bd-di-atu '/ Prdk, 
 or " desert of Lrak." Practically, Sham means the North ; and Sha-mi-ya, towards 
 the North. But Sham also is the Arabs' name at once for the country which we 
 call Syria, extending for some 400 miles between the Mediterranean and the 
 Euphrates, and for its capital Damascus, a very ancient settlement of Semites.^ 
 The translation " Syrian desert " commonly serving for Shd-mi-ya is right, if by 
 "Syrian" be understood northern; misleading, if it suggest that Sha-mi-ya forms 
 part of Syria. Filling up the space between Palestine and the middle Euphrates ; 
 insensibly merging in Syria towards the north ; entering on the south the pen- 
 insula, Sha-mi-ya belongs to Arabia. No one who has crossed its harsh and arid 
 uplands, formed mostly of gypsum and marls ; thirsted in its waterless wa-dis ; 
 and shared the life of its gJiaz-u riders, will hesitate to reckon it to the great 
 lone land of the Ba-da-wi. The "Arabia" into which Paul "went away" from 
 Damascus apparently was Sha-mi-ya."-^ Compared with the circle of foliage and 
 verdure which surrounds Damascus, one might rashly say of Sha-mi-ya, " there is 
 no good in it " ; but after most parts of Arabia proper, it must well content 
 the nomad. The Euphrates washes all its eastern margin. Out of its stony 
 central region, called, par excellence, the Ha-mdd, or desert, the Ae-ni-za issue in 
 summer to dress their water-skins in the river, and freshen up their mares with 
 green grass and barley. A striking feature of the valley of the Euphrates is 
 the numerous perished cities — awaiting the labours and discoveries of another 
 
 1 Gen. XV. 2. 2 Q.j] i j-,_ 
 
66 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Layard— of which it contains the traces. But it is also studded with villages, 
 one or two of them almost towns ; indeed everywhere are scattered over it, in 
 tents and hamlets, communities engaged in husbandry. The Ha-mad itself 
 contains oases to which, in a general way, the description given above of Al 
 Ha-sa is applicable. Chief among these is Tadmor, or Palmyra,^ about i6o 
 miles north-east from Damascus, and five days' camel journey from the Eu- 
 phrates. Whether this belongs more to Syria or Sha-mi-ya need not here be 
 debated. Neither does it concern us to recall the picturesque events of which in 
 the third Christian century it formed the theatre : how, from a mere ploughland 
 of settled Semites taken by some desert lord under his protection, Tadmor, aided 
 by the convenience of its site on the caravan route between Asia Minor, Europe, 
 and the Indian and Chinese east, expanded into a commercial emporium : 
 how, after its incorporation by Rome with her own imperial system, it figured 
 for 1 50 years and more as mistress of the Roman east : how its widowed 
 queen, Zenobia — the Boadicea of her race and country — aiming at political Inde- 
 pendence, with the desert at her back, and all its chivalry united under her, 
 defied Rome's veteran generals : how, at last, the Emperor Aurelian marched 
 against the " Queen of the East," after an arduous siege took her city, and 
 carried off the swarthy heroine to attend his chariot to the Capitol. More to the 
 present purpose are these two views of Tadmor. In the poor hamlet now dis- 
 posing itself among its fallen fortifications and long lines of Corinthian columns, 
 supplies are procurable ; so that if one can but master the objections, or elude 
 the vigilance, of the Osmanli revenue officer posted in it, there is no better place 
 to start from in search of the wasp-like legions of the Ae-ni-za. 
 
 What a mighty difference it must make to Sha-mi-ya horse-breeders to have 
 the Euphrates to fall back on, may be imagined. Here, in its middle course, the 
 historical river formed the boundary long ago between the Assyrian empire on 
 the east and the great nation of the Hittites on the west; rather later, the 
 standards of the Greeks and Romans often were reflected in its waters. 
 
 " But something ails it now : the spot is cursed." ^ 
 
 1 The derivation of the name Palmyra bestowed 
 by the Greeks and Romans is obvious enough. Its 
 Semitic name of Tadmor, substantially the same both 
 in Arabic and Hebrew, from tamar, a palm, equally 
 indicates what still forms the principal natural feature 
 of the same spot. But when it comes to pronounc- 
 ing this the identical " Tadmor in the wilderness " of 
 2 Chron. viii. 4, as built by Solomon, recent Bibli- 
 cal criticism follows, as usual, two courses. Be this 
 as it may, the ruins still throwing their shadows over 
 Tadmor belong to the same imposing order as those 
 
 of the Temple of the Sun at Baalbek, the Temple of 
 Jupiter at Athens, and the Parthenon. In 1694 this 
 mine of archaeology was rediscovered by a party of 
 EngUsh merchants settled in Aleppo, distant about 
 seven days for dromedaries. Half a century later an- 
 other Englishman (R. Wood) published large-scale 
 drawings of the ruins, with historical preface, under 
 the title of The Ruins of Palmyra, otherwise Tadmor 
 in the Desert (1753). 
 2 Wordsworth. 
 
CHAP. V. SHA-Ml-YA: OR DESERTS WEST THE EUPHRATES. 
 
 67 
 
 Nothing more heroic than a ghas-7c of the Ae-ni-za on the Sham-mar, or the 
 Sham-mar on the Ae-ni-za, now crosses it. In winter, when the nights are long, 
 the water cold and swollen, and the formidable ghai-ldn ^ blowing, raids are out 
 of season. In spring also,' when the mares are foaling, they are as far as possible 
 avoided. At such times we have ridden up and down the Euphrates valley 
 without ever catching a glimpse of Bedouin. But later on, when the fords are 
 easy, and the interior of the Ha-mad is glowing like a brick-kiln, and water and 
 pasture have to be made a push for, among the features of the landscape some- 
 times are clouds of spearmen, passing like sandstorms over the rocky ground, 
 or emerging, mares in hand, naked and dripping from the river. Of the extent 
 to which, from ancient times, as now under the very eye of the Osmanli, the 
 Euphrates is thus held in fee by nomads, proofs may be seen near A'na, on its 
 Sha-mi-ya border. On either side of a gully stand two piles of masonry, evidently 
 once the props of a bridge across it.^ These are covered with rude scratchings, 
 not unlike those which, when copied and sent to Europe, open up new alphabets 
 and histories. But the Arabs came to I'rak too late to use the old proto-Arabic 
 letters. The Khaz-ga hieroglyphics merely are reproductions, made by all the 
 nations of Arabia, of the distinctive marks with which they brand their camels,^ 
 as Australian horse-breeders do their horses. 
 
 Next to its river, the great advantage of Sha-mi-ya is the opportunity of 
 buying barley which its cultivated borders and oases afford to nomads. Other- 
 wise, the physical conditions are essentially those of Central Arabia. Springs 
 known only to Bedouin must exist ; but we never saw one — only wells at 
 long intervals on the caravan tracks ; with, at most seasons, collections of rain- 
 water in natural depressions. The rainfall is greater and less precarious than 
 
 ' According to some, ihe. ghai-ldii is a piercing wind ; 
 according to others, merely an extraordinary coldness. 
 They who go out in it muffle their heads ; and Bed- 
 ouin put stitches through certain of their mares' parts, 
 to exclude it from their vital organs. The name 
 may come out of the Arabic verb ghdla, used of 
 mischief or destruction, falling on one unawares: 
 ex quo, the Arab ghnl (our ghoul or bogle), i.e., a 
 demon, which, appearing to travellers, causes them 
 to wander, and destroys them. Even in mild forms 
 of ghai-ldn experienced by us, with the sun at noon 
 as powerful as at the same season (January) in 
 Lahore, and the temperature well above freezing, we 
 have felt in Sha-mi-ya the cold as piercing, where 
 the wind was blowing, as ever we did at Cabul with 
 snow on the ground, and the thermometer near zero. 
 In the Ha-mad a legend runs of a whole gliaz-u 
 having perished, man and beast, in the ghai-ldn; 
 
 except one rider, who, by disembowelling his camel 
 and taking shelter inside, contrived to keep himself 
 alive till its worst was over. 
 
 - A'na townsmen call this spot Gan-ta-ra Khaz-ga, 
 or Bridge of Khaz-ga. Bedouin, confining themselves 
 to what they see, call it Ha-ja-rat Khaz-ga, or, as we 
 might say, the Standing Stones of Khaz-ga. 
 
 ^ These marks, made with a hot iron, are called 
 wasm (pi. au-sdm). Such of them as we ha\'e seen 
 have not been pictorial, but vague scrawlings, like the 
 following : 
 
 O 
 
 rr"^T^ 
 
 Nevertheless, travellers should not despise these old 
 wasm, because of their being "only camel brands." 
 
68 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. ■ book i. 
 
 in Najd ; but it all comes in winter and spring. They who traverse Sha-mi-ya, 
 as the writer did, at the end of summer, must wonder what the Ae-ni-za mares 
 live on. But for a low thin grass and a few sapless shrubs, all is barren- 
 ness. When, after going all night, one dismounts towards morning, to snatch 
 a little sleep, his fear of losing hold of his horse's bridle is almost like one's 
 clinging to the boat after a capsize in a river. Only a fool of a town-horse, 
 it is true, one all bubble and squeak, fresh from a manger, would run off in 
 such a place ; and even he would, if left alone, probably soon come back. Still, 
 just as a Bramah lock is better than the trustiest servant, so is precaution 
 always best ; and however superior the desert mare's intelligence may be, her 
 master, we notice, as often as he calls a halt in Sha-mi-ya, slips a pair of 
 irons round her fore- pasterns. One thing with another, for a fine sense of 
 "pastoral melancholy" we recommend the reader to Sha-mi-ya in the dog-days. 
 In the morning, when the sun comes up like a fire-ball, the flinty plain looks 
 in its emptiness as if created merely to form a temple for him. How changed 
 all this becomes when the spring rains have fallen, the descriptions in Bedouin 
 Tribes of the Euphrates show. The authoress and her husband, leaving the 
 Euphrates at Der, penetrated in March and April, by way of Tadmor, far into 
 Sha-mi-ya ; meeting the Ug-mu-sa, Ru-wa-la, Wald A'li, and other horse-breed- 
 ing septs of the Ae-ni-za. They often came on shallow pools, or successions 
 of pools, covering several acres ; also on wa-dis, " some forty feet below the 
 level of the plain ; and on at least one vast bed of grass and flowers." In one 
 place was "a splendid plain of rich grass, enough to feed all the Ae-ni-za for 
 a week ; " in another, " a dry water-course thick with grass," in which quails and 
 the cuckoo were calling. 
 
 Elsewhere we shall speak of the nomadic herdsmen of Sh^-mi-ya and their 
 horses. Here we are but noting the principal features of their location. 
 
 A good starting-point for the interior of Sha-mi-ya is Der, about 140 miles 
 higher up the Euphrates than A'na — nine caravan stages from Aleppo, ten from 
 Damascus, and eight from Mosul. Lady A. Blunt says of Der that " it is, for a 
 stranger, by far the best market for thoroughbreds [i.e., thoroughbred Arabians] 
 in Asia."^ This, and the companion statement of there being "no horses at Der 
 but thoroughbreds," she explains by saying that its townsmen, being but a single 
 step removed from their undoubted ancestors the Bedouin, buy their colts as year- 
 lings, either from the Ug-mu-sa or from some other of the Ae-ni-za tribes, and sell 
 them as three years old to Aleppo merchants. The authority for this is not 
 given, and our experience is different. Once we visited Der in search of horses, 
 
 1 OJ). cit. in Catalog. No. ii, vol. i. p. 117. 
 
CHAP. V. SHA-Mf-YA: OR DESERTS WEST THE EUPHRATES. 
 
 69 
 
 and saw none worth buying. Dealers were there from Aleppo, Baghdad, and other 
 places. But these were either bound for the Ae-ni-za, hordes of whom were near ; 
 or were on the watch to buy any nondescript animals, resaleable at a profit, on 
 which travellers, or their escorts, might ride into the town. In truth, the population 
 of Der and of the hamlets round it is very mixed. The town is full of Ottoman 
 officials, who are apt to pounce on good horses whenever they see them, and pay 
 little or nothing for them. Not only does this stop the Bedouin from bringing in 
 colts, but it makes even dealers, after a successful visit to the Ae-ni-za, take their 
 purchases towards the intended market by another route than Der. And thus in 
 all such towns the outsider's chance of finding a treasure dwindles. Among 
 the horses in the possession of influential residents, one may now and then occur 
 which has stood for a year or two only because of the largeness of the price put 
 on him. Oftener the reason is that dealer after dealer has rejected him. At the 
 best, such will generally prove to have been reared from foalhood tied to a manger ; 
 and after that, let a horse's blood and figure be what they may, he is not the same 
 , as if he had been left for his first year or two in the desert. Certainly there is 
 always fresh news of the Ae-ni-za in Der. The talk of its coffee-houses is of 
 the Bedouin. Riding-camels can be bought in it : with water-skins, Arab saddles 
 and saddle-bags, and all the paraphernalia of travel ; many of which articles, as 
 might be expected, considering that horsemen and " sons of the road " have 
 invented them, excel at once in lightness, strength, and utility. But he who 
 would buy Bedouin horses in Sha-mi-ya, as in Najd, should go to the Bedouin 
 for them ; and if using at all the dal-ldl} or go-between, believe nothing of what 
 is said, and only half of what is shown, to him. 
 
 ^ Lit., one luhose avocation it is to show. In towns, 
 open - air auctions of mules, donkeys, and inferior 
 horses are daily held. A different form of auction is 
 in vogue for superior liorses. The animal is sent 
 from house to house with a paper, in which every one 
 
 ■\\-ho would buy him enters the price which he will 
 pay ; and thus a deal is effected. Over and above 
 all this, or rather as part of it, the dal-ldl is always 
 on the alert. 
 
^o 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 AL JA-Zi-RA: OR DESERTS EAST THE EUPHRATES. 
 
 APOLOGY may be necessary in again introducing an unfamiliar geographical 
 term ; but if " Mesopotamia " had been written, would the locality of refer- 
 ence have been any the clearer ? The bestowal by the Greeks and Romans of 
 names of their own mintage on the Asiatic countries invaded by them w?s only 
 natural ; but it is not surprising that, except in books, such pieces of nomenclature 
 have faded. Mesopotamia, a rendering of the far older Arameean name betJi 
 nahrtn = country between the two rivers,^ dates only from the time of Alex- 
 ander. Yet it is in all our translations of the Bible, from Genesis to Chronicles ; 
 one of those sonorous words which are the more edifying from neither reader nor 
 hearer knowing too much about them. In modern European literature Meso- 
 potamia bears now an exceedingly extended, again a narrower, application. We 
 cannot lend ourselves to the view which would understand by it the Tigris and 
 Euphrates valleys, from the Alpine heights of Armenia to the Gulf of Persia ; but 
 neither can we consider here all the questions which require to be discussed before 
 this foreign term can be used intelligently ; wherefore in these pages it will be in- 
 troduced but sparingly. Inasmuch as Al Ja-zi-ra is an Arabic name bestowed by 
 the Arabs on a land outside of Arabia overrun by them about their Prophet's era, 
 perhaps it too should be accounted foreign. But here the difference is that, notwith- 
 standing the Turkish conquest nearly 400 years ago, Arabs with varying preten- 
 sions to the name, and greatly mixed with Kurds, Turk-u-mans, and others, still 
 occupy it. The name means T/ie Ctit off. But etymology is not to be pressed 
 against usage ; and a Ja-zt-ra, whether an island or a peninsula, necessarily is a 
 
 ^ Till recently it has passed for certain that the two 
 rivers meant are the Tigris and Euphrates ; and no 
 different view is adopted in these pages. But the 
 possibility should be mentioned of the boundary rivers 
 
 having been the Euphrates and its principal affluent 
 the Chaboras or Khabur. This would limit the desig- 
 nation of Mesopotamia to the western half, or less, of 
 the territory here included in it. V. p. 74, inf7-a. 
 
CHAP. VI. AL JA-Zt-RA: OR DESERTS EAST THE EUPHRATES. 71 
 
 space marked off by waters. Al Ja-zi-ra of the present description does not 
 carry its irregular northern confines higher than, say, Mosul on the Tigris, and 
 Su-mai-sat on the Euphrates. Its southern extension similarly is, not to the sea 
 of Persia, but only to a little above the parallel of Baghdad. Within those limits, 
 neither does it embrace all the area between the rivers, nor refuse numerous 
 trans - riverine pieces. Much of the space between the rivers, as will appear 
 in the following chapter, includes itself in Trak ; while many strips west of the 
 Euphrates, with many others east of the Tigris, are properly Al Ja-zi-ra. In fine, 
 and subject to these qualifications, if the Greeks meant by their Mecro77-oTa)u,ta the 
 territory on, or between, the viiddle portions of the two historic rivers, then is 
 Mesopotamia very nearly Al Ja-zi-ra. Leaving these topics, we here restrict 
 ourselves to the aspects of Al Ja-zi-ra as a Bad-u land expatiated in by the race of 
 Najd. So far as this goes, if the mission of its Ottoman masters had been to hold 
 it in trust for nomads, they might boast to-day of having succeeded. From Mosul, 
 Aleppo, and Baghdad, and from numerous posts on both the rivers, they are sup- 
 posed to grasp it. But in all the great triangle, 250 miles long, with an area of at 
 least 55,000 square miles, which composes it, the Turkish fez is seldom seen out- 
 side of towns. The Osmanli official when he is travelling in it condescends to cover 
 his head with the Arab handkerchief Over most of it Shekh is a better name to 
 conjure with than Sultan or Pasha. The Sham-mar free-lance, when saying "stand" 
 to a raft of merchandise on the Tigris,^ or driving before him the flocks of towns- 
 men, realises what a far cry it is to the nearest garrison. And yet occasionally 
 proof is given that if the Osmanli cannot govern, he has ways of his own of 
 striking. A few cajoling letters, ending in a cup of poisoned coffee, or in the 
 deputation of an executioner pretending to be an ally, sometimes serve with 
 Turks all the uses of police and courts of justice. Within the memory of living 
 people, the Shekh of all the Sham-mar slew in his sacred guest-tent a desert rival, 
 contrary to every obligation of Arab honour ; and when the Governor of Baghdad 
 was apprised of it he feigned approval ; sent one of his partisan leaders ostensibly 
 to support the homicide, in reality to deal with him as he had dealt with the other ; 
 and soon the culprit's head was brought into the town. More recently a cockerel of 
 the same nest rose to eminence as a public enemy. Goaded into a kind of fury, as 
 some say by a luckless wooing, this hero of not a little desert fable long played the 
 Rob Roy against all villagers and peaceful folk ; till at last the Mosul Government, 
 on his being delivered up by one with whom he had taken refuge, hanged him 
 publicly. But such things do not often happen. In the main, "live and let live" 
 
 ^ As we write (1890), an Assyriologist from the Brit- 
 ish Museum informs us that in coming down the Tigris 
 on a raft from Mosul, he showed a Constantinople Bu- 
 
 yurl-dl,Q)X order, to a band of roaming Arabs, and that 
 the innocent, if futile, document, so far from being re- 
 spected, was subjected before his eyes to indignity. 
 
72 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 is the policy. On tlie one hand, Al Ja-zi-ra Bedouin restrain their lawlessness ; 
 on the other, Turkish authorities seldom bring things to an issue with them. 
 Not remoteness of situation, not aridity, not the strength of its Bedouin, not 
 religion, but only the Turk's way of taking countries and letting others use them, 
 lies at the root of this. There is no Wahabyism in Al Ja-zi-ra, and not much even 
 of Islamism; the unwritten laws of the desert, not the Mecca Prophet's Institutes, 
 govern its nomads. A political mosaic like that of Hi-yil, having a castle in the 
 middle of it, is impossible so near the Osmanli. Either the ancient and natural 
 strength of the desert must be held fast to, or, as Persians say, the saddle-cloth of 
 obedience to foreign governors more and more carried on the back of the national 
 life. The last great "desert king" of Al Ja-zt-ra was he whose head was fetched 
 off by a Baghdad Pasha in the circumstances above alluded to. What a falling off 
 there was in him from the old Najdian ideal appeared in his disposition to lean 
 on the Osmanli ; his treacherous murder of a guest ; and his taking to wife a towns- 
 woman. After his tragic ending he was followed in the Shekhate by his son Far- 
 hin, who died at a good old age only the other day, in the Arab quarter of Baghdad. 
 The last order which Far-han ever gave was, that the Surgeon of the British 
 Consulate should be summoned to save him ; but his hour was come. Happen- 
 ing to pass the spot where they were burying him, we heard it bitterly remarked 
 by many how, while accepting several thousand pounds a-year of Turkish money, 
 under the pretence of settling his people at Kal-a' Sher-gat on the Tigris, he 
 had permitted, if not encouraged, the plunder of flocks and merchandise. And 
 now his son Mij-wal has succeeded him, always under Osmanli favour and patron- 
 age. For the last twenty years, however, all the more stubborn heads of tents 
 in these northern Sham -mar, deserting Shekh Far-hin, have kept gathering 
 round his half-brother and rival, Fa-ris.^ Perhaps it belongs to the Osmanli 
 policy to cajole, and be cajoled by, only a section of a clan or nation. Too many 
 Far-hans and Mij-wals — that is, if the latter walk in his late father's steps — may be 
 considered not worth the price. Or perhaps it is that Fa-ris, warned by the fate 
 of his brother, born of the same father and noble Arab mother — him above referred 
 to as hanged at Mosul — has deliberately chosen to play the game of desert politics 
 
 1 How Lady A. Blunt spent some days with Fa-ris 
 near the town of Der, in March 1878 ; how she 
 found him " very good - looking, with a clear olive 
 complexion not darker than that of a Spaniard, an 
 aquiline nose, black eyebrows meeting almost across 
 his forehead, and eyes fringed all round with long 
 black lashes, smile, one of the most attractive one 
 can see;" how "Wilfrid" and Fa-ris solemnly swore 
 an oath of brotherhood for all their lives ; how Fa- 
 
 ris immediately thereafter borrowed from his big 
 brother a £\o note, there being in the Sham-mar 
 camp " no clothes to the women's backs," the coffee 
 and sugar all used up, and an Israelitish creditor 
 dunning; and, lastly, how Fa-ris, not ungrateful, 
 made a raft for his generous visitors to ferry them 
 across the swollen Kha-bur," — all these things, and 
 more, any one may read in Bedouin Tribes of the 
 Eicphrates, vol, i. ch. xv. 
 
CHAP. VI. AL JA-ZI-RA: OR DESERTS EAST THE EUPHRATES. 71 
 
 apart from foreign leading. Be all this as it may, with the Ae-ni-za kept out of 
 AI Ja-zi-ra by the Sham-mar, and the latter so open to town influence, another 
 than the Turkish Government would probably ere now have realised that a region 
 anciently so civilised and flourishing need not necessarily be left to nature, pending 
 the success of dubious projects for the changing of Bedouin into peasants. In the 
 main, and excepting the limestone ranges of Sin-jar ^ (fifty miles long by seven 
 broad) and A'bdu '1 A'ziz, with between them the isolated basaltic hill of Kau-kab, 
 which traverse more or less its northern portion, the whole region is as flat and 
 tractable as it is accessible. In October 18S6 we marched across the southern or 
 steppe division of it ; and three months later, across the northern. A country having 
 less of feature than the former it would be hard to find. Our Arab guide kept 
 steering by the Thar-thar wa-di ; but for the life of us we could not see a line of it. 
 He must have picked it out from the surrounding monotony, in the same way as a 
 shepherd is said to know his sheep's faces. Between Hit and Tak-rit, three and a 
 half days for laden mules, or say about eighty miles, no human vestige, other than, 
 few and far between, the black tents of the Sham-mar, came before us. Every- 
 where was fallow ; the natural flora ousted by cultivation thousands of years ago ; 
 and little save bent-grass — the golden him-ri — now replacing it. Though the year's 
 round of vegetation was then only beginning, this hini-ri rose as high, but not as 
 thick, as barley. It is fine pasture; but owing to our horses being entire we could 
 not turn them out in it, as the Bedouin do their mares. Skins of Tigris water had 
 to be carried with us on mules. At long distances were wells, with nomad camps 
 spread round them ; deep and gruesome pits, containing, when not run dry, scanty 
 supplies of saline fluid. Frogs and toads sat blinking in the sides of them ; and in 
 several floated dead gazelles which, perhaps to drink, perhaps merely by accident, 
 had gone headlong into them. In Arabic the word for watering a horse or mule 
 literally means the cmt-sing, or helping, him to go down — i.e., to the water : a deriva- 
 tion guiding us to at least one explanation of the poverty of the Arabian fauna 
 outside of certain swampy regions. The rivers of Al Ja-zi-ra are too deep-set for 
 animals to get at them, except where an approach, called a sha-rt-d , has been made. 
 At Hit a town dog having business of his own at Tak-rit joined our party un- 
 invited, knowing how dependent he would be for water on some friendly biped 
 and his rope and bucket. As a feature still further handicapping Arabian agricul- 
 ture, this very general depression of running waters between steep banks is notice- 
 able. On the Tigris and the Euphrates, were land to be had for the taking, capital 
 for the erection of water-wheels and purchase of well-cattle is thus necessitated; 
 and in so poverty-stricken a country very little serves to turn the cultivators into 
 
 1 V. supra, p. 5 ; also in Index I., art. Ya-zi-di. 
 K 
 
74 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. BOOK i. 
 
 the bondsmen of Jews and others. No other Arabian crop or culture is so profit- 
 able as a date-grove. When planted in spots like Bussorah, close to ocean carriage, 
 and where sweet water can be distributed everywhere from the Shattu '1 A'rab, 
 it must be like a little gold-mine. 
 
 In recrossing Al Ja-zi-ra higher up, from Mosul, by Sin-jar and Lake KhS.-tu- 
 ni-ya, past Mar-din and Na-si-bin to Bir on the Euphrates, the best part was struck 
 — the well-watered land N.W. of the Kha-bur river, which is recognised by many 
 as the true ancient Aram Naharayivi, or Padan-armn of Genesis.^ By that time 
 it was January, and plenty of rain had fallen. All the arid undulating plain west of 
 the Tigris was spread with sheets of rain-water. First the Ja-gha-jagh was forded; 
 then, with difficulty, the Kha-bur. The best known modern describer of these parts 
 is Layard ; ^ but the trees and thickets which he gives to the Kha-bur are now things 
 of the past ; and its last lion has either been hunted down or has joined his kindred 
 in the impenetrable cane-brakes which fringe the Shattu '1 A'rab. The beaver settle- 
 ments have been exterminated so completely, that only the old remember how once 
 upon a time Pashas sent far and near for a certain bitter product {castoreuvi) of 
 the amphibious sapper, prized by them as a restorative. Among Nature's subjects 
 still remaining, the most interesting is Asinus onager, or wild ass ; Gur khar of 
 Persia, and Kalan of Tatars. He it is who, crossing the plain in small brown 
 herds, excites the ardour of the Sham-mar horsemen, and tests severely their mares' 
 speed and bottom. The only one whose flesh we ever tasted had been snared 
 by a Sle-bi pot-hunter ; not ridden into by a straight rider. Numbers of these 
 Sle-bi cross the Euphrates in winter in pursuit of game ; and we have heard the 
 beauty of their breed of asses ascribed to their using as stallions wild specimens. 
 It was seen above how some have argued that if Al Ja-zi-ra still have the wild ass, 
 why may it not once have had the wild horse ? Possibly it may ; for who can prove 
 a negative ? But the watered part of it, with all its extensiveness, is relatively to 
 the vast arid spaces lying contiguous little more than an oasis. The same tract, as 
 its numerous mounds and ruined cities show, during all the time that the Assyrian 
 empire was spreading over western Asia, supported a settled and industrious 
 population. Even the Biblical literature gives us little help in realising how 
 immeasurable are the past periods of time ; and the eighteen Christian centuries 
 may be carried back through eighteen, or twice eighteen, more, without the problems 
 of natural history being thereby affected. But one fact at least appears to guide us, 
 and that is, the essential difference between the wild ass's and the wild horse's nat- 
 ural habits. The former is ranked by the Arabs with the Antelopidae rather than 
 the Equidae. In their poetry he is held up to admiration, or used in similes, side 
 
 ^ Chap, xxviii. 2, et passim. "- Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 31, chaps. 12 to 15. 
 
CHAP. VI. AL JA-Zl-RA: OR DESERTS EAST THE EUPHRATES. 
 
 75 
 
 by side with the ostrich and the camel. As long as a succulent bite can be found, he 
 is as independent of water as the hare or rabbit. Notwithstanding what has just 
 been said of the populousness in ancient times of this north-western shoulder of Al 
 Ja-zi-ra, we know from the figures of camel -riding Arabs found in its buried 
 cities that then, as now, nomads flitted over it ; that Sennacherib and his prede- 
 cessors had to cope with the irrepressible, ubiquitous Bad-u in the intervals of their 
 grander undertakings. And so at this day, there falls on all the land the shadow 
 of the Arab runih or shal-fa — its shaft perhaps an Indian bamboo, perhaps a quiv- 
 ering reed from the Euphrates marshes ; its tuft of sable ostrich-feathers serving 
 the same impressive purpose as the death's-head and cross-bones device of a famous 
 lancer regiment. For fear of it, all the less warlike populations of Al Ja-zi-ra, if 
 stationary, hug the mountains ; if nomadic, purchase with tribute the protection of 
 the Sham-mar. In the dry months thousands of the Bedouin assemble between 
 Sin-jar and Ba-tin.^ There in truce times the Sham-mar meet the Ae-ni-za ; in the 
 natural nomad life the female character is unblighted by face-veiling ; hearts go out 
 to hearts ; passages of love and friendship soften blood-feud and foray. Other 
 tribes, notably the A'd-wan and the Jais, immigrants like the Tai from Najd, tend 
 their flocks and breed horses in the same pastures. Both banks of the Bi-likh, 
 another feeder of the Euphrates, are occupied by the Ba-ra-zi-ya. The common 
 view taken of these is that they are Kurds ; but some say that they are Najdian. 
 One thing worth mentioning before leaving Al Ja-zi-ra is this : Between Hit and 
 Tak-rit we saw, as has been stated, round every well hordes of the Sham-mar with 
 their mares. But in nearly a month of travel over the tract watered by the 
 numerous head-streams (Rdsu '/ diii) of the Kha-bur we fell in with even fewer 
 Bedouin than Sir L. Pelly did between the Persian Gulf and Najd, or Lady A. 
 Blunt in Wa-di Sir-han, for we in fact saw none at all. The margins of the river 
 were white with flocks. At spring's first touch a luxuriant growth of natural 
 grasses, variegated with flowering herbs, was turning the desert into a meadow ; in 
 the soft depths of which the newly dropped lambs were hidden. But with grass 
 and water everywhere, the Sham-mar were so scattered that for all that we saw of 
 them we might as well have been in Yorkshire. Perhaps, if our route had 
 lain in peninsular Arabia, we should have concluded from seeing no Bedouin 
 or Bedouin horses that there were none to see. But in Al Ja-zi-ra no one can 
 fall into this error. In 1836 and 1837, Dr Ross, Surgeon to the British Con- 
 sulate, Baghdad, in the course of two journeys to the Ruins of Al Hadhr,^ saw a 
 
 1 In nothing is nomad speech more dehghtfully 
 general than in its names for natural features. Thus 
 ia-wtl, long or tall, is as generic a name for mountain- 
 peaks as " Taffy " is for Welshmen. Similarly every 
 
 headland is a khashm (lit. snout) ; every blunt height, 
 a ba-iin (lit. bellying) ; and so forth. 
 
 2 V. his narrative in yoiirnal Roy. Geog. Soc, 
 Londo?t, vol. ix. part 3, 1839. 
 
je COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. book i. 
 
 good deal of Southern Sham-mar-land. In one day's march he passed about a 
 dozen large encampments, in which were upwards of 10,000 or 12,000 camels; 
 yet he considered that he had seen " only a very inconsiderable part of this enor- 
 mous tribe." With the discovery awaiting us that Bad-u horsemanship, though 
 not without its strong points, falls far short of the English hunting-field model, 
 it is the more worth noting, on the authority of so matter-of-fact a witness, how in 
 the use of the queen of weapons for all who have taken pains to master it, the seat 
 and hand and eye of the Sham-mar lancer serve him truly. A snake having started, 
 a shekhling drove his spear through its head. The Arabs applauded, but the doctor 
 declared that it was an accident. Thereupon the other threw the reptile on the 
 ground again, saying, "Where will you have me hit it this time?" and on the 
 tail being named to him, made a charge at it, so that in an instant it was whirling 
 in the air, transfixed in the part in question. Probably this is one of the Bedouin 
 virtues the decline of which is held to result from intercourse with townsmen ; 
 but some pretty spear-play may still be seen among the loose-robed chivalry of 
 Al Ja-zi-ra. They have fallen off in numbers since Dr Ross's day. Also, their 
 war-howl less often wakes the echoes now than then. Except when some unusual 
 occurrence has set the contumacious swarms a-buzzing, European travellers have 
 but little to fear in Al Ja-zi-ra. Nevertheless the view is still well supported, that 
 while its towns and cultivated spaces are held by the Osmanli, the genii of the 
 interior are the Sham-mar. 
 
 The better to command the deserts which we have been describing, our camp 
 had been reduced to the scale shown in the sketch opposite.^ 
 
 Unfortunately, the mistake had been committed of employing mules, instead of 
 camels, to carry the baggage. Camels will browse as they go, and still make pro- 
 gress. If unloaded early enough, in Al Ja-zi-ra at least, they will do very well ; 
 and when collected at sunset round the tent, they sit ruminating contentedly, like 
 the elders of a tribe, far into the night. But mules must have their chopped straw 
 and barley. At any rate their owners say so : and as ours were not our own pro- 
 perty, the slightest mention of taking them into places where rations might fail 
 made the muleteers rebellious. Even mares and horses, especially town ones, 
 are not well adapted for forced marches over arid and uninhabited spaces. The 
 dromedary alone commands the desert. Mounted on her, the traveller can go 
 anywhere. If there be Bedouin about, he will find them ; while supposing him, after 
 days of travelling, to reach a spot where he had thought to catch them, only to 
 
 1 In towns like Baghdad, the traveller need anti- [ but, outside of India, there are no servants who under- 
 
 cipate no difficulty in procuring tents. If he should 
 desire large ones, of Turkish, Persian, or Arab shapes 
 and materials, he will generally be able to buy them ; 
 
 stand how to pitch a tent of European design. If 
 tentes d'abris will serve him, the local tent-makers 
 will soon equip him. 
 
CHAP. VI. AL JA-ZI-RA: OR DESERTS EAST THE EUPHRATES. 
 
 77 
 
 discover that they had left it, he has at least his wallets, water-skin, and blanket ; 
 and instead of a mare almost certainly saddle-galled, and half dead for want of 
 barley, a ruminant fit to start again when wanted. A course of camel-riding in 
 these Euphrates deserts greatly develops the foraging faculty. The traveller who 
 has reached Baghdad from that quarter may be known by the zeal with which he 
 hunts up provisions. It is scarcely possible for him to hear a hen intimate that 
 she has laid an egg in his vicinity, without setting out to look for it. When invited 
 to dinner, he carries his empty canisters with him, and by a combined process of 
 begging and taking, refills them from his hosts' dishes or pantries. 
 
 -i^ .j£. 
 
 .;'**. V% 
 
 i-o**^ 
 
 THE AUTHORS FLYING CAMP BETWEEN SIN-JAR AND THE EUPHRATES. 
 
78 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 I'RAK: OR TIGRIS-LAND. 
 
 IF the interest of Najd for horsemen turns on the Arabian horse having been 
 perfected there, I'rak has this claim to notice, that it yields large numbers of 
 him. True, the I'raki, or as he is sometimes, though less appropriately, called, the 
 Baghdad horse, is not an Arabian of a high stamp. Still these two facts about 
 him are evident : they who breed him, equally with their horse and mare stock, 
 practically are, allowing for admixture and exceptions, Arabs ; and of every hundred 
 Arabians exported, a large percentage are from I'rak. Leaving the animal him- 
 self for description in the proper place, we therefore now invite our readers 
 to cast an eye over his native districts. With the ancient history of I'rak, 
 according to a venerable tradition one of the first countries occupied by man 
 after the deluge, nay, even supposed by some to contain the site of Eden, we 
 do not here occupy ourselves. The Shinar of Genesis ; ^ later, the " ancient land 
 of Chaldea " ; still later (after its capital), the "country of Bab-il " ; — the " I'rik 
 A'ra-bi " ^ of geographers may be said to fit itself to the surfaces making up the 
 present Ottoman pashaliks of Baghdad and Bussorah ; to which, however, large 
 portions of the pashalik of Mosul also require to be added. In some curious way 
 I'r^k has come to be called " Turkish Arabia " : but no such name, so far as we 
 know, is given to it by the Bab-i-A'lt or Sublime Porte. 
 
 A very large slice of I'rak perhaps admits of being regarded as what geogra- 
 phers call "the further present" of Al Ja-zi-ra.^ That is, we may so consider the 
 
 1 Chap. xi. 2. 
 
 2 So qualified to distinguish it from " Frak A'-ja- 
 7)11," one of the eleven provinces of Persia. 
 
 5 The traveller who is holding southward per- 
 ceives after Hit on the Euphrates and Sa-mar-ra on 
 the Tigris, a marked difference both in the character 
 
 of the ground and in the landscape. From a slightly 
 elevated plain of secondary formation he descends to 
 a mud-flat, the creation of the two rivers in the course 
 of ages. "At a comparatively recent period," says 
 Loftus, in Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc, 1S53, p. 251, "the 
 littoral margin of the Persian Gulf extended certainly 
 
CHAP. VII. PRAK: OR TIGRIS-LAND. 79 
 
 tract beginning, in the parallel of Hit, where the Tigris and the Euphrates approach 
 within twenty or thirty miles of one another, to diverge again lower down ; and 
 stretching south, between the rivers, towards the Gulf of Persia. This does not mean 
 tiiat I'rak is bounded by those rivers. Three important rivers, the Euphrates, the 
 Tigris, and the Dhi-a-la, water it ; but its limits are not determined by them. Accord- 
 ing to the Arabian geographer, Abii '1 Fi-da, it lies on one of them — the Tigris — like 
 Egypt on the Nile; that is, the Tigris runs through the middle of it. The same 
 authority assigns to I'rak for boundaries, in the west, Al Ja-zi-ra and Sha-mi-ya ; in 
 the south, the flanks of Najd, Gulf of Persia, and Khuz-istan ; and in the east, the 
 mountainous country of the Zagros range.^ It is impossible to apply to so large a 
 tract a general description, whether in its horse-breeding or other aspects. One 
 thing soon strikes the horseman — the difference in its horse-supply east and west 
 of the Tigris. In the former direction, the further we go, the more do Persian 
 influences prevail among the population ; and Persian strains, or, to be more 
 accurate, the absence of any particular strain at all, among the horses. In the 
 latter, the nearer we approach the Euphrates, the more we feel that our faces 
 are turned towards Arabia. Over its steppe portions, I'rak is fiercely hot 
 from May to September, cold and wet in winter, charming in spring, and 
 at all seasons more or less conducive to vigour of mind and body. Even the 
 sedgy swamps of its southern part, however distressing to Europeans, main- 
 tain rice - growing, fish -eating, hardy races, scarcely anywhere to be surpassed 
 for breadth of chest and length of limb. As horse-breeders these are not 
 worth mentioning. Their mare is the canoe ; their sheep and camels white- 
 polled buffaloes. At present the Government has them well in hand. Their 
 ancient avocation of fresh - water pirates is more or less suspended. Per- 
 haps in their homes, and towards one another, they exhibit some traces of 
 politeness ; but the aspect which they present to strangers is that of savages. 
 Closely connected with the extraordinary productiveness which I'rak displayed, 
 and with the high degree of civilisation which belonged to it, not only in 
 remote antiquity but partly even under the Baghdad Caliphs, was the cyclopean 
 network of canals by means of which the men of old converted vast surfaces of it, 
 especially between the rivers, into a garden. Not a hundredth part of the ancient 
 irrigational system now exists ; but enough remains to give birth in many places 
 to rich crops and pastures. Canals apart, an enormous deal of cultivation, with 
 many hundred miles of date-palm, spreads itself over the banks of the three rivers. 
 
 250 miles further to the north-west than the present ney separated the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates, 
 
 embouchure of the Shattu '1 A'rab." Another authority I ^ I'rak consequently lies between 30° and 34° N. lati- 
 estiinates that in Alexander's time at least a day's jour- I tude, and between 44° and 48° 30' E. longitude. 
 
8o 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Early in October wheat and barley are put down, not only under wells and rivers, 
 but — near towns — in the desert also, in dependence on the rain.^ By midwinter 
 the husbandman begins to be rewarded. With frost in the air, and a wintry 
 sun looking through naked trees, irrigated lands are then knee-deep with crops of 
 wheat and barley. These are not at first allowed to come to ear. They are either 
 cut, and sent in ass-loads to market, or mares and cattle are turned out in them to 
 eat their fill. By the time that this has been twice or thrice repeated, spring is 
 well advanced. Then at last the corn is left to form and ripen. After all, the yield 
 is ereater than if it had never been eaten down. Our farmers should make a note 
 of this, and not be in too great a hurry with their "ware wheats," when for all that 
 they know a flight of fox-hunters may be the very thing for them. Beautiful in 
 I'r^k are March and April, with autumn's treasures thus pouring themselves into the 
 lap of spring. Vernal showers, expressive of Nature's copiousness, with not an 
 ache or rheum in them, have succeeded to the sterner rains of winter. The days 
 grow longer and longer ; and the genial sun, receiving the crisp north wind in 
 its embraces, produces the jDerfection of climate.^ Here and there among the 
 standing crops sheets of rain-water glisten brighter than mirrors. All along the 
 water-courses wild-flowers hide themselves in a wealth of sweetly scented grasses. 
 Mothers of every kind are in milk ; and near towns, where the plain is not 
 under crops, it is studded with black tent-circles. In good years, when the devil 
 leaves Eden alone, and there are neither locusts nor inundations. May sees the 
 last field harvested. Then, in June and July, the Fraki husbandman is seldom dis- 
 appointed of a strong shi-vidl or north-west wind. This does his winnowing for him ; 
 after the corn has been trodden out, either literally under the feet of cattle, or by 
 passing over it a spiked wooden roller which is called a jar-jar? The simple 
 
 ^ Rain-cultivation is locally called daim or dcin. 
 
 - If but the wind would never veer ! The " Father 
 of the tempest" in I'rak is a wind called shar-ki, 
 from the south-east. Nothing could be more dis- 
 agreeable than this jarring blustering blast when it 
 sets in cold and moist (happily only for a day 
 or two at a time) in March, except the same wind 
 in August, when it comes hot and humid as the 
 sirocco, laden with dust and yellow vapours ; as un- 
 wholesome to breathe as to look at ; unstringing the 
 bow of animal life ; bringing old wounds and old pains 
 back again — nay, making the joints of the very chairs 
 and tables creak. Men, we are told, should never 
 let their tempers rise ; but this is the wind to ruffle 
 them, much as it whitens into waves the Tigris and 
 Euphrates. In towns the force of it is broken ; but 
 out in the desert it rages round and round, through 
 and through, one's head. The Arab takes it patiently 
 
 as a " thing sent," wraps up his head, and says noth- 
 ing. The European keeps out of it as much as he 
 can. 
 
 ^ Thus inevitably the stalks (/z'/), except of rice 
 crops, get chopped or triturated into what Persians 
 call kdh, and Arabs tibn. Hay, as we know it, is 
 seldom seen in I'rak. Wherever we have been among 
 Arabs, tibn and sha-t'r (barley) make up the horse 
 provender ; and these two words occur in the only 
 slightly varied forms of te'ben and seo'riin in the pas- 
 sage of the Hebrew Bible (i Kings iv. 28) in which a 
 glimpse is given of King Solomon's stable manage- 
 ment. So much is food a matter of habit, that once 
 when we imported to Baghdad for a growing colt a 
 supply of English meadow-hay and oats, he refused to 
 leave his tibn and s/ia-i'rfor it ! For lack of straw, the 
 method is in vogue of spreading the stalls with sun- 
 dried droppings. This so gets into the coat and 
 
■ CHAP. VII. 
 
 I'RAK: OR TIGRIS-LAND. 
 
 8i 
 
 harvest is barely over when the months of extreme heat begin. Then the ground is 
 iron-bound. From an hour or so after sunrise, the sportsman's horses stand idle 
 before their mangers ; while his hawks and thin greyhounds are being summered 
 in cool dark places. In towns business is chieflj' transacted in the morning and 
 evening, and at night. For an hour or two after noon the siesta ^ waits on all ; 
 on the merchant in his sard-db or watered chdr-ddk ; on the jDorter stretched atop 
 his load ; on the sentry at his post. In the open country garden cultivation is con- 
 tinued. For that the water-wheels of the Euphrates still revolve ; - and all along 
 the Tigris and the Dhi-a-la ponies draw up water. -^ But agriculture proper is inter- 
 rupted ; and the hardy Arab sheep, though still able to make a shift on ground 
 where ours would die, have to be helped with chopped straw. All who have 
 houses exchange the open fields for them. Many of the tent-dwellers set up 
 sheds, called sd-bdt, under some river -bank, and as near the current as possible. 
 Vast portions of the country between the rivers resemble the merest sand -plain. 
 Elf-lock shoots of wild colocynth and wild caper* stray over the desert, which 
 is rough with stones and bits of coloured pottery. But for the traces of cities 
 whose very names are lost, nothing could be more featureless. Where the Tigris 
 or the Euphrates bounds the horizon, masses of date foliage darken it. Otherwise 
 the fantastic images of the mirage ^ are all that the traveller sees before him. x'\nd 
 yet it is not like this invariably. The changes which are caused perhaps in a 
 night by overflowings of the great rivers sometimes maintain themselves throuo-h 
 the summer. And apart from this, the Tigris and the Euphrates, wherever a natural 
 depression affords an opening, send into it a body of running water, which is 
 called a khirr. Streams of this kind do not go far ; but many of them last all 
 
 mane that, with but one groom to three or four 
 horses, in Arabia one's favourites may be heahhy, 
 but they can hardly be clean. Horses doing daily 
 marches have to lie on the bare ground. If tibtt 
 were put down as bedding the wind would blow it 
 away. 
 
 ^ In Arabic kai-li'i-la. The Prophet said, Sleep 
 at mid-day J verily the devils sleep not. 
 
 2 A great feature of the Euphrates is the water- 
 wheel, called from its creaking na-iVr. The bed of 
 the river being first of all raised by the nmning into 
 it of dams of masonry, the water-power of several 
 feet in height thus obtained is made to turn a rough 
 wooden wheel of 30 or 40 feet diameter, having 100 
 or 150 rude clay-cups slung on the outer edge. The 
 aqueducts with which these wheels are fitted form 
 not the least picturesque part of them, being for the 
 
 most part supported by a series of well-built Gothic 
 arches. 
 
 ^ The nd-2i'7- cannot be put on the Tigris and the 
 Dhi-a-Ia, owing to the softness of their beds. 
 
 ■* In old Arabic la-saf (Heb. iiispali, S)'r. nespa). 
 But now the Arabs call it ka-bar. That is, the Greek 
 name KctTTTrapis has displaced the Semitic one. 
 
 " In Arabic sa-rdb. More deceitful than the sa-rab 
 is an Arab saying. I'rak is seldom rained on be- 
 tween June and October. The drier the atmo- 
 sphere the more remarkable the mirage. The air- 
 strata, unequally heated, and therefore differing in 
 rarity, in refracting the rays of light, here distort the 
 objects seen through them ; there make them appear 
 raised off the ground ; and again by a reproduction of 
 their image which is reflected in a lower stratum, 
 present them as if rising up out of a lake. 
 
82 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 through the hot months ; and fishermen sail up and down them in Httle skifis. 
 Delicate and nutritious grasses ^ spring up wherever the moisture reaches. When 
 the khirr dries up towards September, cultivators raise in it heavy crops of 
 beans or Ifi-bia, the very best of horse-keep. More considerable than the khirr 
 are the marsh {Iiaui') and salt-lake {sab-kha), many of which yield saline herb- 
 age almost as good as barley for horses.- All that has so far been said applies in 
 the main to I'rak west of the Tigris. East of the same river, between it and the 
 Turco-Persian frontier, lies a pastoral steppe called Al Ha-wi-ja, or, from its occu- 
 pants, Ha-wi-jahi 7 U'-baid. Arabia contains as many hd-ivis and ha-wi-jas as 
 India does do-dbs, or England holms. Both are geographical terms, descriptive 
 of certain conformations or dispositions of land. Their etymology being obscure, 
 the two names are difficult of definition ; but generally they seem to indicate mud- 
 flats. With regard to the Ha-wi-ja now before us, a glance at the map will show 
 that, while divided by a range of low mountains into a northern and southern por- 
 tion, it is much enclosed by rivers. Unlike the Euphrates, which, after receiving in 
 its upper third the Bi-likh and the Khi-bur, holds on for some 800 miles without an 
 important affluent joining it ; the sister Tigris is enriched at every stage by snow-fed 
 and considerable tributaries, notably the greater and lesser Zab, the U'-dhaim, and the 
 Dhi-a-la. Between two of these, the lesser Zab and the U'-dhaim, lies the territory of 
 the U'-baid, the — in the main — desert oi Al Ha-ivi-ja. In November 1886 the part 
 of this called Al A'ith was wandered over by us without a fixed abode appearing. 
 All the features of the ground were Najdian. He who has crossed its billowy sands, 
 scourged by the prevailing winds into elevated masses and intermitting spiral ridges, 
 with here and there in the rainy months surfaces of nti-st pasture, may almost con- 
 sider that he has seen Najd itself In 1856 clouds of apparently ensanguined sand 
 were, for the first time that any one remembered such a thing, blown into Baghdad 
 day after day by the strong winds of the desert. As English gunboats were just 
 then pounding Mu-ham-ma-ra, the red material alarmed the superstitious. Some 
 
 1 In A.\-3.h\c gree?i-food \s ha-shtsh. Grasses such as 
 those of which we make hay are i'shbj among which is 
 ihaz-yil, the dub of Northern, and hariyali of Soutliern, 
 lnA\3i, A grestis li?tearis of botanists. Spreading from 
 point to point both below and above the ground, loving 
 the shade, yet not fearing the sun, this grass, wher- 
 ever it may have come from originally, has so spread 
 over east and west, that we have lieard Turkish Pashas 
 bitterly call it an emblem of the British power ! Long 
 may it continue to be so. 
 
 Another I'raki grass is the dmc-sar, a kind of wild 
 oat, fresh and beautiful to look at, and much liked by 
 
 horses ; not, however, yielding a grain. 
 
 Outside the natural flora are innumerable cultivated 
 herbs. The tall bean (bd-kil-la) diversifies with its 
 dark green the wheat and barley fields. The grace- 
 ful hicr-tu-mdn, an excellent horse-keep, comes up 
 half-wild along with it ; and later on the mash, type 
 of the vetch family. 
 
 ^ This applies particularly to the i^k-rish, mispro- 
 nounced ifsh-rish — a saltish herb lying close to the 
 ground, having on it rough capsules like very small 
 grapes. An inexhaustible supply of this is brought 
 into I'raki towns in the hot months. 
 
CHAP. VII. 
 
 PRAK: OR TIGRIS-LAND. 
 
 S3 
 
 say that it came down the Tigris valley from Al A'ith. But if there be red sand- 
 dunes in Al Ha-wi-ja, we did not see them. For many years, the wells and 
 pastures of Al A'ith have been, by the favour of the U'-baid, in the possession 
 of the purely Bedouin tribe of Sa-yih, a sept driven by family quarrels across the 
 Tigris,^ and these were found by us leading the Najdian life ; rich in mares and 
 camels, and prone to foray. The horse-stock both of the U'-baid and Sa-yih will 
 be looked at in another chapter. Al Ha-wi-ja, taken as a whole, is a fine natural 
 horse-run ; indeed the reader may be inclined, from much of what has just been 
 stated, to form the same opinion of I'rak generally. But there are many things 
 to handicap the Baghdad province under the existing rdgime in this respect ; and 
 although it would hardly do to consider every horse reared, or even got and 
 foaled, in I'rak an Traki, yet the local horse-stock is so inferior that one cannot 
 but regret the fact of so much of it passing in distant countries as typical of 
 Arabia's better strains. 
 
 As a rule, the Bedouin proper, when they enter I'-rak, avoid long sojourns in 
 it. But considerable bodies of the Ae-ni-za, notably the Ibn Hadh-dhal, are more 
 and more tending to make it their di-ra. It is a fine thing for a fighting horde of the 
 Ha-mad thus to possess a special desert, into which, through fear of the Bao-hdad 
 Government, their enemies can scarcely follow them. The present Head of these 
 Hadh-dhal Arabs, Shekh Fahd, even has a title and stipend from the Osmanli ; 
 and owns, though he seldom occupies, a house in Kar-ba-la. In September and 
 October he and his kindred swarm like locusts out of Sha-mi-ya towards culti- 
 vated parts ; and set up their blanket cities in the pastures west of the Euphrates, 
 between Kar-ba-la and Raz-za-za. Nominally, they come to buy dates ; but 
 their camps form great camel -markets, which attract crowds of buyers. In fact, 
 the Ibn Hadh-dhal, though there is no better blood in the Ae-ni-za, are every 
 year taking on more of the character of horse and camel sellers. It is not so 
 to the same extent, perhaps, with their natural enemies, the Sham-mar. They, 
 too, sell their colts as they go; but their first thought is to "see what God 
 will give them" — i.e., make free on every opportunity with other people's pro- 
 perty. Lower down the Euphrates on the same side, round Suku 'sh Shu-yukh 
 and Zu-bair, another Bedouin nation, the Najdian Dha-fir, has its pastures. But 
 speaking broadly, excluding birds of passage, and allowing for exceptions, the horse- 
 breeding peoples of the Tigris are of the most mixed description. A list of them 
 
 * A refugee tribe, or part of a tribe, thus attaching 
 itself to another and possibly hostile tribe is called 
 ga-sir. Fragments of the Sham-mar always are 
 
 ga-sir with the Ae-ni-za, and vice versa; and this is 
 one of many other ways in which the several strains 
 of horses are carried hither and thither. 
 
84 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 would fill a gazetteer: the best known group - names are those given below. ^ 
 Many are Bedouin by descent, and all but equally so by occupation — warlike, 
 predatory, restless. Others, though settled, are able, OAving to the inaccessibility 
 of their haunts, to hold themselves safe from interference. Vast numbers are 
 little else than peasants ; milch cows of the Government ; " a prey to all stronger 
 than themselves ; but not without some power of biting when too roughly handled 
 by officialdom. Both extremes alike, including all the intermediate stages and 
 gradations, are looked down on by Bedouin whose tails have escaped. Even 
 when a common origin is admitted, the view taken is that of Rob Roy's wife 
 when she asked the "Bailie" if a "stream of rushing water acknowledged any 
 relations with the portion withdrawn from it for the mean domestic uses of those 
 who dwelt on its banks ? " This is all very well among the Bedouin ; but it is a 
 mistake when civilised people push the same fancy too far. For all whose proper 
 concern it is to keep the life of the desert on its pristine lines, the utmost possible 
 stiffening of the bristles may be advisable. But, this admitted, the European surely 
 has no call to conclude that sixteen quarterings of Najdian blood count for nothing, 
 as soon as a tribe takes to raising crops and contributing to the Government 
 treasury. Notwithstanding the caution given above against regarding I'rak as 
 demarcated by any river, the fact already stated may be remembered, that, in respect 
 of the character of the people spread along it, the Tigris is far less Arabian than 
 the Euphrates. The latter, in entering I'rak near Hit, strikes too decidedly east- 
 ward to retain much further connection with the pastures of the Ae-ni-za ; but 
 
 1 Bai-at, E. of Tigris, between Duz Khur-ma-tu and 
 Kif-ri. Of Turanian, not Arab, stock. 
 
 Ba-nii Lam, E. of Tigris, from Kut to Persian frontier. 
 W". of Tigris, S.E. of the Hai. Najdian origin. 
 
 Da-war, same ground generally as Sham-mar Toga ; 
 guides and messengers. 
 
 Du-laim, v. p. 135. 
 
 I'-ma-ra, pi. I'-mi-rat, N. and S. of Hai river, formerly 
 one of the most considerable nations in I'rak. 
 
 Ju-biar, W. of Tigris, tract called Ta-ji, between Bagh- 
 dad and Tall Gush. Cattle-breeders and horse- 
 dealers. 
 
 Kha-za-i'l, Lower Sha-mi-ya, S.W. of Sa-ma-wa, march- 
 ing with Mun-ta-fik. Those having neither camels 
 nor mares, cultivate ; those better off, raid on their 
 neighbours. Carriers and camel-dealers. Numbers 
 of their colts are taken every year to India. 
 
 Mi'-dan, chiefly round I'-ma-ra. Live in huts of reeds. 
 Have enormous herds of buffaloes. 
 
 Mun-ta-fik, v. p. 135. 
 
 Sar-ra-e, between Tigris and Euphrates, S.E. of Hai 
 river as far as the Hid. 
 
 Sham-mar Toga, plains E. of Tigris and S. of Dhi-a-la 
 
 to Kut. With them the Di-fa-fa'. Branch of them 
 the Bij Mu-ham-mad ; filling" marshes N. of Gurna 
 as far as Hid river. Propellers of canoes {jiia-shd- 
 Mf). Resembling them as living in huts and breed- 
 ing buffaloes, but of better stock, and more peace- 
 able, are the Ja-za-ir inhabiting the marshy districts 
 of the Euphrates. 
 U'-baid, from E. bank of Tigris to Him-rin hills, and 
 round Kar-kuk. Ancient lineage ; rich in mares 
 and camels. 
 Zu-baid, a great, if mixed, people, between Tigris and 
 Euphrates, N. of the Hai to Sak-li-wi-ya canal, 
 W.N.W. of Baghdad. 
 
 Add to the above a very large Kurdi element, in 
 every stage between settled and nomadic. 
 
 ^ In I'rik, Government takes a sheep-tax (called ko- 
 dd) in money, at so much per head, and a similar one 
 (called ixja-di) on camels. On crops a tenth, or what- 
 ever it may be, is taken in kind. Whei'ever a patch of 
 cultivation shows itself, down upon it, sooner or later, 
 swoops a revenue officer, when the locusts are not 
 beforehand with him. 
 
CHAP. Yli. PRAK: OR TIGRIS-LAND. 85 
 
 this is more and more made up for, the nearer that it approaches the flanks of 
 Najd. Even so high up as Hit, a great and aristocratic Bedouin people, preserving 
 much of the old manners, occupies both its banks. These are the Du-laim or 
 Di-Iem, not long ago nomadic and strictly pastoral, but now half-way between 
 that phase and the agricultural. The tribal form, with its essential " touch one 
 touch all " organisation, is still indeed illustrated by them. A few years ago the 
 irresistible tendency to stand by a friend drew them into a raid on the Sham-mar. 
 Contrary to Arab usage, much blood was spilt ; and the Du-laim, besides being 
 defeated, were called most severely to account by the Baghdad Government. 
 When they ride abroad it is still on blood-mares, with tufted spear on shoulder ; 
 and their hom.e is still in open spaces. But mule - breeding is on the increase 
 among them, and horse-breeding on the decline ; the plough more and more attracts 
 them ; and sheds rise up beside their tents. Descending the Euphrates, we soon 
 enter the country of the Mun-ta-fik. These expand over both sides of the river, 
 from Sa-ma-wa to the Gulf. On the Tigris, they possess the tracts which are crossed 
 by the rivers Hid and Hai. Fifty years ago, the Arab settlement of Suku 'sh 
 Shu-yukh, or Market of the Shekhs, near Gurna, which had grown up in connection 
 with them, was a great centre of trade ; but now it is close upon collapse. The Ae- 
 ni-za say that the clans of the lower Euphrates are not sufficiently careful to ascer- 
 tain the pedigree of a horse or mare before they breed from it ; and that many of 
 their mares are no better than those of the half-Persian Ka'b whose seats are on 
 the opposite side of the Shattu '1 A'rab. To some extent this may be so ; but the 
 Mun-ta-fik are too near Najd, and their connection with it is too intimate, for them 
 to be left without a certain number of pure-bred mares and stallions. Buyers from 
 Zu-bair and Bussorah take away their colts ; and India receives many good Arab 
 horses from this source. Osmanli influences have been unsparingly exercised to 
 weaken the bond which unites these people ; and in some respects they now are in a 
 somewhat shattered condition. But the warlike Arab spirit which they inherit is as 
 strong as ever ; and their interminable rice-fields and date-groves, added to their 
 wealth in sheep and camels, serve to keep them in the foreground. The approaches 
 to the Arabian littoral in this quarter, though not unguarded by the establishments of 
 the distant central authority at Constantinople, are largely in the keeping of survivals 
 like the Du-laim and the Mun-ta-fik, whose vitality it seems impossible to crush. 
 To reach eastern Arabia by the open water-ways, and seize the towns of the sea- 
 board, is an enterprise within the capacity of any foreign power possessing naval 
 superiority. But it is one thing to defeat mercenaries, and a very different thing to 
 be confronted by chieftains who, although destitute of what we should regard as 
 military forces, hold in their hands the resources of important districts, and are 
 possessed of singular ability. When recently enjoying the hospitality of one of the 
 
S6 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 proudest ot the Mun-ta-fik patriarchs, we more than ever realised the difficukies which 
 would beset the European commander who should be called upon temporarily to estab- 
 lish his authority, and pass on troops from base to base, in these immense regions. 
 We do not know how many, or how few, staff-officers who are able to speak to the 
 Arabs in their own language, and interpret to others their characteristic traits and 
 sentiments, would be available in such circumstances. But if ever it come to pass 
 that, for want of such assistance, military chiefs are compelled to rely, in their Intelli- 
 gence and Supply departments, on the legion of Levantines and I'-ra-kis who, on the 
 grounds of their speaking English, or French, and Arabic, will proffer their services, 
 very great difficulties will be experienced. 
 
 IN THE author's GARDEN, BAGHDAD. 
 
BOOK SECOND 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE HORSEMAN MAKES THE HORSE. 
 
 HE moment that we leave the domain of Nature, and notice domestic 
 breeds of animals, man's share in the making and moulding of them 
 demands attention. He who would see a horse, for example, which 
 should be wholly a product of climate, must necessarily catch a wild 
 one.^ Even the ponies which run in mobs in certain islands, though their owners 
 may have but little to do with breeding them, at least receive protection. 
 
 No picture has come down of the horses of the cavalry and scythe-bearing 
 chariots which the Romans encountered when they invaded Britain. But from 
 the descriptions of their prowess in Ceesar and Tacitus, it is safe to infer that 
 they showed bi'eeding : that if climate made the web of them, the woof was 
 shaped by the methods used to bring them to the proper standard, chiefly through 
 the selection of parents, but also in the individual by means of work and training. 
 
 1 With reference to the theory that the Horse's 
 primeval home Ues about the 40th degree of lati- 
 tude on the highlands of Asia, we took advantage in 
 1886 of an adjoining region being under inspection 
 by representatives of the Englishman and Slav — the 
 two rival branches of the Aryan race — to inquire of 
 a scientific friend, Surgeon Owen, CLE., medical 
 officer with the " Boundary Commission," whether any 
 facts bearing on this point had been seen or heard of. 
 His answer was that, although in the localities visited 
 by the Commission wild horses had not been seen, 
 yet there were indications of the present existence of 
 distinctly wild or aboriginal horses in Mongolia — that 
 is, be it observed, the very region whence, eight cen- 
 turies ago, Jenghis Kaan — the Bonaparte of the East- 
 ern world — carried the Mongol arms, chiefly by means 
 of clouds of horseinen, from the China sea to the 
 
 banks of the Dnieper. As his authority in part, Dr 
 Owen quoted his companion, Mr Ney Elias, who 
 traversed in 1872 a line of upwards of 2000 miles, 
 through the almost unknown tracts of western Mon- 
 golia, from the gate in the great wall of Kalghan to the 
 Russian frontier in the Altai. In Sir Douglas Forsyth's 
 report on his mission to Yarkand it is stated that herds 
 of wild horses (also wild camels) had been seen, not, 
 indeed, by Sir Douglas, but by a native informant, in 
 Northern Thibet. The country in question highly 
 favours the natural habit of the horse ; and from pre- 
 historic down to recent times it has been famous for 
 the excellence and numbers of its studs. Vide Marco 
 Polo, Col. Yule's [1S75] edit, ch. Ixi. (vol. i. p. 291). 
 In ch. liv., Ser Marco says, that the Tatar horses "will 
 subsist entirely on the grass of the plains, so that there 
 is no need to carry store of barley, straw, or oats." 
 
 M 
 
90 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 The subjoined tableau from the famous roll of 12th-century embroidery which, 
 from having been piously presented to the cathedral of Bayeux, is known as the 
 " Bayeux tapestry," represents the horse and man-at-arms with which Norman 
 William hammered Britons, Teutons, Danes, and other elements into a great 
 nation ; when the armour was as yet comparatively light ; and war-steeds were 
 not required to carry figures resembling our modern ironclads. 
 
 WILLIAM I. AND TONSTAIN. 
 
 Where are now the stamps of horses which England possessed at the period 
 of the Conquest ? Where the square-set and untiring hackney, shaped like this, 
 
(=) 
 
CHAP. I. 777^ HORSEMAN MAKES THE HORSE. 
 
 91 
 
 on which our grandfathers covered the Great Northern Road? Or the " bonnie 
 black mares " of the gentlemen who so often stopped them ? Or, to name no 
 more, the pack-horses of which the goods trains of long ago were formed ? — 
 
 " How are they blotted from the things that be ! " ^ 
 
 is the epitaph of them all. In this, as in other respects, old fashions have 
 but given place to new : in the picture-gallery opposite, the characteristics and 
 pursuits of Englishmen are reflected in their horses as completely as they were 
 in those of long ago. The same thing has come to pass in other countries 
 also. A century ago, Hindustan yielded breeds of horses second to none in 
 stamina. Those were the days of free fighting ; when hordes of mounted 
 marauders swept the peninsula ; when a blood mare might easily carry a shep- 
 herd or a slipper-bearer to the highest station; and when the true- uses of light 
 cavalry were understood as they have seldom been in Europe. Gradually all this 
 was arrested by the growth of the British power. Their occupation gone, the old 
 breeds then found their bourne on the other side of what some one has well called 
 the " unjumpable Styx." In other lands, they would merely have taken on differ- 
 ent forms. But unhappily among Indians generally there is no chord responsive 
 to the epithet of "horseman," which is as clear to Englishmen as "horse-com- 
 pelling" was to the Greeks and Romans. In India all the ploughing, and a 
 great deal of the roadwork, are carried on by means of bullocks. And thus, in 
 spite of much encouragement from Government, that country is now at a disad- 
 vantage in respect of the production of superior horses ; compared with countries 
 where colts are bred and reared at slight expense from the mares that work the 
 farm, take the farmer to church and market, or occasionally even give him a look 
 at the hounds. 
 
 All this is intended to illustrate how, next to climate — in highly civilised coun- 
 tries possibly even beyond and above it — 'tis the man and the work that make the 
 horse : and this view is so essential, that before in due time proceeding to consider 
 the Arab horse, we wish to devote the following three chapters to the breeders of 
 him ; both the AJil bait, or tent-folk, and the Aid hd-yit, or people of boundaries. 
 
 ^ Scott, in The Lady of the Lake. 
 
92 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 WHERE DID THE ARABS COME FROM? 
 
 ALL have heard of Queen EHzabeth's gunner, who, when he was called to 
 account for not having fired a salute, gave twenty reasons, the last of which 
 was that he had no powder ! Not to follow suit, our best reason for failing in the 
 sequel to answer the above-stated question may be given at the outset, and that is 
 inability to do so. The discussion of it seems to suggest more difficulties than 
 it solves. For example, the following. In all the "fragments of an earlier world" 
 which lie imbedded in the Hebrew Scriptures, by what test are the substantial and 
 permanent to be distinguished ?^ In what degree are we to consider the Hebrews 
 and Arabs — so constantly in touch historically — inter-related ethnically ? How far 
 back falls the epoch when the Semite^ consolidation, disintegrating, spread its 
 portions, now spoken of as Arabs, Aramaeans, Canaanites, Hebrews, Assyrians, Baby- 
 lonians, and, lastly, the Ge'ez, or Abyssinians, over the several spaces which now 
 contain them ? Does Arabia proper, or Babylonia, or any other region where they 
 are historically known to us, form the primitive seat of the Semitic peoples ? Or 
 came they as masterful immigrants from some nursery of nations outside of their pres- 
 ent limits ? Lastly, of all the Semitic tongues, which holds the same position towards 
 the others that Sanscrit does in the Aryan family of speech ? We do not mean 
 that all, or any, of these formidable questions now await us. Most of them, 
 we believe, are still undetermined. If we at least were to go into them, the very 
 ancient Eastern figure of diving into an ocean and bringing up a potsherd would 
 
 1 F. p. 113, infra, f.n. i. 
 
 2 With reference to the term Semite or Slieiiiiic, the 
 general reader may be glad of the information that it 
 was first introduced (1787) under the impression that 
 the division of mankind, so far as known to the Jews, 
 in Gen. x., made most of the nations to whom it was 
 applied descendants of Shem, the son of Noah. It is 
 now known that the classification in question, what- 
 
 ever facts of political history or civilisation may be 
 adumbrated in it, is neither ethnographic nor geo- 
 graphic. Nevertheless, for want of a scientific term, 
 the universally received names " Semites " and 
 " Semitic " continue to be borne by those nations 
 collectively ; and by the languages, some living and 
 some dead, which are proper to them. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 WHERE DID THE ARABS COME FROM? 
 
 93 
 
 find one more illustration. Why, then, it may be asked, the present chapter ? 
 First, because the differences between the settled and nomadic Arabs cannot be 
 elucidated apart from references to ethnology ; in connection with which the pre- 
 ceding general statement may prove useful. Secondlj', because in speaking of the 
 origin of the Arabs we shall have an opportunity of stating certain facts about the 
 Bedouin which most readers will find interesting. 
 
 Among the views of the Arab horse dealt with in previous chapters, one was 
 that of his being indigenous to Arabia, in a sense in which the English horse is not 
 indigenous to England ; and another, that the pedigree of every genuine specimen 
 of him issues pure and undefiled from some mysterious source. The unreason- 
 ableness of the former theory was then, let us hope, demonstrated ; while the latter 
 was reserved for consideration in its proper place. We have not yet come to 
 that : meanwhile we wish to mention two more or less similar views with respect 
 to the Arab man. The first is, the claim to purity of race in a very special sense 
 which every Arab, at any rate every Bedouin, asserts for himself. The second, 
 the vague belief prevailing that the ancient Arabs, while yielding numerous colonies, 
 owed to the isolation of their peninsula a singular degree of freedom from foreign 
 intrusion, and consequent race admixture. The latter opinion, it will soon appear, 
 is not remote from the subject which is chiefly to occupy us in this chapter — 
 the history of the Bedouin, considered separately from the whole body of the 
 Arabs both nomadic and settled. Before passing on to that, if we slightly illus- 
 trate the individual Arab's claim to sangre azul, our remarks will not seem too 
 irrelevant, when the Bedouin practice of horse-breeding afterwards comes under 
 notice. 
 
 One of the pearls of wisdom which the JMuslim ascribe to their Prophet is, Pre- 
 serve [commit to memory] of genealogies only as muck as tuill keep ptire your line} 
 How far such an admonition was needed, and how far it has been followed, are 
 nice questions. The world contains no greater recounters of pedigrees than 
 the Arabs; but the "fatal facility" with which their handed - down material 
 lends itself to the myth-making process is anything but a satisfactory feature. 
 
 1 V. f.n. 3, p. 20, aji/e. Mr Stanley Lane Poole, in a 
 little book (1882) about Muhammad, calls his 'Say- 
 ings ' ' Table Talk.' To which a captious critic might 
 offer the t:\'0 objections : that the Arab siif-ra — 
 merely a skin spread on the ground — is not a table; 
 and that eating, not talking, is the business to which 
 
 Arabs and all primitive Asiatics address themselves 
 at meal-times. Certain non- Muslim relics of the 
 ancient Semite population of Babylonia, whose sect- 
 name is Mandeeans, even have the superstition that 
 evil spirits live on food which they snatch from before 
 talkative people. 
 
94 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. book ii. 
 
 After the Prophet's death Islamic piety constructed for him a family-tree con- 
 necting him through upwards of forty descents with Abraham ; and this view, in 
 whole or part, is now a point of faith with more than a hundred millions. 
 
 Let us try to state simply a series of facts, without attempting to build on 
 them : — 
 
 I. Nobility depending on letters-patent is a thing undreamt of by the Arabs. 
 Titled travellers in Arabia have sometimes thought that their connection with the 
 peerage raised them in the eyes of the Bedouin. But any impression thus produced 
 can only have depended on all the words by which the conventional English idea 
 of " nobility " admits of presentation to an Arab being pre-associated in his mind 
 with different ideas. When the old-fashioned Highlander said that King George 
 could make any one he liked a Duke, but that "nobody could make a Mackay," he 
 exactly expressed the Bedouin view. This comes out in the word a-sil — havino- 
 for primary idea established on a sure foundation — which in Arabia forms the 
 equivalent of our "old," as applied to birth. What the arch is in masonr)^ 
 a-sd-iai, or a deeply laid foimdation, is in the Arab's view of breeding. In modern 
 Europe, at all events our portion of it, we ask. What has been a man's or a woman's 
 history, subsequently to being born ? and what improvements has he undergone 
 through education ? In the East, especially Arabia, the point is, How has 
 he, or she, been bred? That a man's grandfather should have been rich or 
 poor, front rank or rear rank, is secondary. All that is essential is, that his 
 genealogy should be traceable to established stock. Ovine ignotnm, &c., goes 
 but a short way in Arabia proper : and for one whose progenitors may have 
 been Turks or Levantines to put himself on a level with him whose pedigree 
 every one knows to be Arab, all Arab, and nothing but Arab, would there be 
 looked on as utter presumption. The Bedouin, it should further be observed, do 
 not think it possible for blood that has suffered mixture to recover itself A 
 son of Kah-tan by an African woman, even if a daughter of the tent noblesse be 
 given to him to wife, cannot, in the opinion of his kindred, make so much as a 
 beginning to restore to his offspring the true Arab purity and impress. The 
 same romantic ideal finds expression in the desert law reserving for every youth 
 the right of claiming the hand of his father's brother's daughter, at a lower dowry 
 than that for which the maiden's parents would accept a stranger. In the speech 
 of Bedouin, bintu a mm, or cousin, passes as the accepted euphemism for a man's 
 wedded wife. It would be useful to ascertain whether or not these consanguineous 
 marriages 1 prove injurious, in respect of longevity, fecundity, and soundness. But 
 with this problem still unsolved in Europe, where the necessary questions could 
 
 ^ Abraham's wife, Sarah, we know, was his half-sister — Gen. xx. 12. 
 
CHAP. II. WHERE DID THE ARABS COME FROM? 95 
 
 be put in the census paper, the effects of such unions on the Bedouin Arabs are 
 not hkely soon to be discovered. 
 
 II. As a result, more or less, of this custom of close marriages, a consider- 
 able degree of "type fixity," displaying itself in inter-resemblance, runs in the several 
 Bedouin stock-groups, and even circles of stock-groups. In the most "aristocratic" 
 assembly of Englishmen, how diverse the shapes and features ; how uncertain the 
 presence even where most to be expected of outward or physical marks of race 
 superiority ! And one reason of this may be the freedom with which our ancient 
 families, unscared by the Frenchman's fear of misalliance — for which, by the way, 
 our lano;uao-e contains no word — mate with others less artificial. On looking round 
 a tentful of Bedouin, on the contrary, though different ethnic types may not be 
 wanting, one generally sees sufficient evidence that the tribal bond, however it may 
 have originated, has long been one of well-kept mutual kinship. 
 
 Traces of breeding are in the pose and figure ; the head is well made and well 
 set on ; the small hand, and foot, and ear are prevalent ; the most common cast of 
 nose is the Wellingtonian — neither a beak nor a battering-ram, but a prominent and 
 straightforward feature. 
 
 III. Whether as resulting from its fixity of type, or from other causes, Arab 
 blood seems to possess a special virtue. If in our own island the pedigrees of 
 those famed in field and senate be examined, from the Stuarts and Plantagenets to 
 the Roses, Napiers, and Wolseleys, a high percentage will be found to be Norman. 
 In the historical and old territorial aristocracy of the three kingdoms, names but 
 slightly if at all altered from those in Froissart are conspicuous. Nay, even north 
 of the Highland line in Scotland, half the Dunniewassals who, in compliment, as they 
 think, to the nakedness of Celtic ancestors, refuse trousers, are descended from 
 Norman immigrants, like Baliol and the " Bruce of Bannockburn." The Norman 
 blood of the Eastern world — the unbridled, masterful, enterprising, conquering, and it 
 may be added eloquent, stock — clearly is the Arab. Not only is this, when pure, a 
 well-spring of powerful qualities ; but even a little of it, when infused into families 
 of wholly different derivation, has often led to greatness. For example, among the 
 historical figures of native India the soldier-adventurer Hyder A'li, father of Tippoo, 
 Sultan of Mysore, was the offspring of an Arab mother. The celebrated Sir Salar 
 Jung, from 1853 to his death in 1883 Minister of Hyderabad — type of high breeding 
 and nobility alike of mind and aspect — was the thirty-third in descent from a family 
 of Medina. Truly, there maybe more in "blood," as it is called, than we know 
 of; though this, to be sure, applies to most things. 
 
 IV. Not only the Arab man, and the Arab horse, but also very many of the 
 creatures of the Arabian plain, from the largest antelopes down to the im.y yar-hf, 
 or jumping-mouse, are remarkable for the grace and beauty, the absence of all useless 
 
96 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK 11. 
 
 substance, and the signs of "blood" or "quality," which belong to them. In this 
 respect the Arab greyhound resembles the Arab horse. A more sprite - like 
 creature, or one more completely made for speed, was never moulded by man or 
 nature. So far as these observations refer to tent-bred animals, they more or less 
 point to the force of pttre breeding ; but the hawks and bustards, antelopes and 
 wild asses, of the desert, must owe their refined proportions to the soil and climate. 
 A country the fauna of which is of this description may undoubtedly be regarded as 
 offering special facility for the production of high-bred domestic animals. We never 
 have felt tempted to breed Arabians in England. But if, in spite of the enormous 
 initial outlay, and the difficulty of afterwards maintaining the necessary establish- 
 ment, the English thoroughbred horse could be bred, and galloped, and fed, say on 
 the Ja-bal Sham-mar plateau, and the two-year-old produce sent to Newmarket, the 
 experiment would be interesting. 
 
 In Arabia, as in other countries, an epoch of obscurity, thick with gods and 
 demons, giants and giant-killers, fabulous tribes and peoples, lies behind the begin- 
 nings of history. Many diffused legends of those remote centuries were afterwards 
 quoted by Muhammad, for the purpose of producing the strongest possible moral 
 impression on his countrymen. Hence the Kur-an abounds in references to 
 very ancient Arabian kingdoms, and to the miraculous interferences by which they 
 were destroyed. The action of "sacred books" in preserving material of this 
 description has been noticed by writers as divergent as Gibbon and Dean Stanley ; ^ 
 to a great extent, it forms a necessary feature of their antiquity. We allude to it 
 only to say that a middle course will here be aimed at, relatively to all that has 
 thus come down. On the one hand, mere fossil remains will not be treated as 
 necessarily important ; on the other hand, it will be remembered that many an 
 undiscovered fact of history probably is imbedded in the strange conglomerate 
 of ancient fable. 
 
 ^ We cite of Gibbon's references, that in his 33d ch. 
 to "the memorable fable of the Seven Sleepers" of 
 Ephesus ; the currency of which in the East is testi- 
 fied, while its diffusion has been enormously increased, 
 through its having been brought into the Kur-an (S. 
 xviii.) : and further, his suggestion, in his 50th ch., that 
 the tenet of the immaculate conception of the Virgin 
 Mary was " borrowed from the Kur-an." The late 
 Dean of Westminster {Lect. on Hist. East. Church, p. 
 253) mentions, inter alia, the latter legend as one of 
 those which Muhammad " derived from Christian 
 sources ; " and which were " received back from him 
 into Christendom." The foot page reference under 
 
 this statement is " Kur. iii. 31, 37." As two such 
 eminent writers have noticed this point, we may just 
 say that, according to the best Baghdad scholars, 
 the Arab Prophet taught, — (i) that Mary was, while 
 yet unbor-n, dedicated by her mother to God's ser- 
 vice ; (2) that her Lord accepted her ; (3) that at her 
 birth she was miraculously shielded from the touch 
 of Satan ; (4) that all her life she was endowed with 
 immaculacy. The Roman view, which, though only 
 in our day (1854) made binding, has long been fa- 
 \'Oured by the Jesuits, goes further than the Arabian, in 
 representing the act of sanctification as simultaneous 
 with conceptio7i. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 WHERE DID THE ARABS COME FROM? 
 
 97 
 
 Accordingly, all that need here be said of the very early period of Arabia is 
 that, although several of the peoples — e.g., the Amalekites and the nation of 
 Tha-mud — who then existed lasted well into historic times, they are now no more. 
 This fact is embodied in the name,^ meaning the lost, or cut off, Arabs, which 
 adheres to them. 
 
 Advancing from spaces of Cimmerian darkness to those of dawning light, 
 we soon perceive an essential fact. Not all the mountains of futile explanation 
 which have been raised over it, can obscure this circumstance in the conditions of 
 Arabia, that from the earliest times of which we have cognisance two populations as 
 dissimilar as the typical Ba-da-wt and the typical Ha-dha-ri have divided its area 
 between them. A passing glimpse of the Sabsean period of Arab history was 
 afforded in a previous chapter. Strabo - has preserved the information that be- 
 fore our era S. Arabia contained not only the people of Sa-ba, but several other 
 settled nations.-^ Succeeding capitals of ancient Yemen — Ma-rib and San-a, and 
 others before them — teemed with aristocratic figures ; builders of palaces ; hard- 
 fighting Ceesars ; satraps or governors of subsidiary provinces. Under the same 
 regime towns and villages grew up. Commerce, agriculture, and the industrial 
 arts ^ prospered. Im-ru '1 Kais uses Ya-md-ni, or Yemenite, as a synonym for 
 travelling merchant. Traders, and leaders of successful or unsuccessful military 
 expeditions, told in many lands their stories of 
 
 " Sabfean odours from the spicy shore 
 Of Arabic the blest." « 
 
 But these influences, as has also been seen, hardly if at all affected the middle 
 zone of the peninsula. Then, as now, Nu-fudh land formed a sort of political 
 island ; within which more or less were exclusiveness, independence, and the 
 migratory habit. All these facts are well established. Authentic ancient sources 
 yield them ; and in our time they have been verified from coins and inscriptions. 
 
 ■' In Arabic, A'rabu 'I A'ribafi V ba-i-da. 
 
 2 Bk. XV. 4, 2. 
 
 3 The Minseans, on the Red Sea ; the Ka-ta-bdn, 
 or Catabanes ; and the people of Hadh-ra-maut, 
 whose city was Sabota. 
 
 * Among the industries of ancient Yemen the 
 tanning and colouring of hides held a great place. 
 To this day, in the towns of Arabia and I'rak, the 
 only ai'ticle of indigenous design which at all resembles 
 the European shoe is called a ya-ina-nt. Notwith- 
 standing an increasing inflow of slop-shoes and ankle- 
 boots from India and Europe, this is still the common 
 wear with old-fashioned Arab folk. Bedouin as often 
 go barefooted as otherwise. The pattern of their shoe 
 
 varies ; but the principle is the very ancient one of a 
 sole attached to the foot with straps. A common 
 kind is this : — 
 
 An 7, or Shoe, of the Arabs. 
 
 Paradise Lost. 
 
98 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 As just now hinted, the difficulty lies in the interpretations of them which have 
 been invented. Whatever may have been the case 
 
 " in the golden prime 
 Of good Haroun Alraschid," ^ 
 
 modern Baghdad affords but slig-ht facilities for researches of this nature. It is 
 long since an Abu '1 Fi-da, or an El As-ma'-i, has arisen among the Arabs. So far as 
 our acquaintance extends, the men of to-day are chiefly grammarians ; without the 
 power, even in that limited field, of going outside of Arabic into other Semitic 
 tongues. The cultivation of their several " orthodoxies " absorbs them ; and 
 their inclination towards secular studies is even slighter than their materials. All 
 things considered, probably the wisest of them are they who tell us that the 
 secrets of ancient history are known to God only. 
 
 In numerous popular books, the so-called gemiine, or Arabian, Arabs ^ are 
 termed, indifferently, the Southern, also Yemenite, Arabs, from a tradition that at 
 some infinitely remote period they entered the peninsula at its south-western angle ; 
 African Arabs, according to an equally nebulous theory that they came from 
 Africa ; and lastly, Kah-td-ni Arabs, after a reputed ancestor, Kah-tan, a variant 
 perhaps of Joktan, son of Eber of Genesis ; though we do not know how many 
 of these ancient names represent persons, and how many merely serve to hand 
 down traditions.^ 
 
 And similarly all the nations which are held to have entered Arabia later, and 
 in whom the nomadic habit is much developed, appear in annals, now as the 
 Mtis-td-ri-ba, lit. would-be Arabs — sc, foreigners who have taken on the Arab 
 speech and character ; now as the N^orthern Arabs, under the supposition of their 
 having landed, not like their precursors in Yemen, but higher up, towards the isthmal 
 
 ^ Tennyson, in Becolleciioiis of the Arabia?i Nigii/s. 
 
 ■^{Al'XA'rabuH A'riba. 
 
 3 For example, Ebe?- and Peleg. As long as Europe 
 neglected Semitic learning, there were none to doubt 
 Eber's being the great-grandson of Shem, through 
 Arpacbshad ; and ancestor of Abraham's father Terah 
 through Peleg, Serug, and Nahur (Gen. x., xi.), not- 
 withstanding the (probably unperceived) difficulty of 
 two separate views of him being interwoven in the 
 genealogical lists in Genesis — one, that just stated ; 
 the other (Gen. x. 21, 25-30), bringing in no inter- 
 mediate link between Shem and him, while reckon- 
 ing to the "sons of Eber" not alone the descendants 
 of Peleg (Aramaeans, Israelites, and so-called " Ish- 
 maelite " Arabs), but the southern or Joktanic Arabs 
 also. When, however, the name Eber was examined 
 by etymologists, its connection with the antique Sem- 
 
 itic root rb}'= crossing, was perceived. And after a 
 time the suggestion followed, that if this i'br be read 
 in the secondary Arabic application of a river-bank, 
 or any locality thereon situated, Pb-ri, or Hebrew, may 
 merely mean riparian, i.e., dwellijtg, or encampi7tg, o?i 
 a river. And so with Peleg, the name, as supposed, 
 of " Eber's " son, and Joktan's brother. We owe to 
 Sprenger the suggestion connecting this word with 
 Falj or Fa-laj, the pi. of which, Af-ldj, is the name 
 of a district in central Arabia (p. 32 ante, in f.n.) And 
 it is worth considering whether this view may not be 
 carried further. Fa-la-ja means, in Arabic, dividing, 
 especially the ground with irrigational channels ; and 
 Peleg may merely be a personification of settlers on 
 irrigated and cultivated soils. There is a hamlet 
 called Fal-lu-ja within two days of Baghdad. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 WHERE DID THE ARABS COME FROM? 
 
 99 
 
 extremity of the Red Sea; and perhaps oftenest of all, as the " Ishmaelite" Arabs, 
 or "Children of Ni-zar," after the tradition that through a real or fabidous A'd-nan, 
 and his supposed grandson Ni-zar, they are the descendants of Ishmael and Hagar.^ 
 We notice with surprise that a writer of so late a date as 1875,- in his haste to 
 uproot what he terms the " Ishmaelitic mythos," would assign to both divisions 
 of the Arabs an African origin. But this is guess-work. The few statements which 
 its author conjoins with it, in so far as they are true, equally favour the opposite, 
 and indeed certain, conclusion, that large portions of Africa, notably Abyssinia,^ 
 were colonised and Semitised from S. Arabia.'* 
 
 The account just given of how the existing nations of Arabia are commonly 
 classified is of course but a summary. The division rests only in part on the sure 
 basis of facts which still admit of being tested ; but it is unnecessary here to notice 
 more than one of its many obscurities. It was just now said that the nomadic habit 
 more showed itself in the Arabs of the later than of the earlier immigration. And 
 much further back,^ it will be remembered, we marked and postponed the question 
 of whether a 7-ace distinction, or merely the force of circumstances, forms the basis 
 of this divergence between the two populations. Here this topic again invites us; 
 but instead of treating it in the abstract, let us approach it through the familiar 
 
 ^ Seeing that Muhammad was of the Mus-ta'-ri-ba, 
 the se^■eral hnks in this pedigree are treated by many 
 as post-Islamic inventions designed to lend new lustre 
 to the Prophet's ancestry. This may be so : that is, 
 the chain of connection may be the work of an eastern 
 Debrett ; but the main fact of the Mus-ta'-ri-ba having- 
 long before Muhammad's era claimed Is-ma-i'l for 
 heroic ancestor is well established. 
 
 - The late Mr W. G. Palgrave, in Eucy. Brit., 
 vol. ii. pp. 235-265. There never was a more useful 
 repertory of knowledge than Messrs Black's great 
 \\ork in its present form. But the article on Arabia 
 is an exception. They who refer to that article for 
 information on Arabian topics, will on many points 
 be misled instead of guided. 
 
 ^ "With the Ethiopians 6"(Z-^a means men: a clear 
 indication of their Sabsean descent." — Prof. D. H. 
 Muller, in art. Yemen, Ency. Brit., vol. xxiv. p. 738. 
 
 * After crossing from Arabia (Aden) to Africa with 
 the Abyssinian e.xpedition, the many resemblances 
 which we noticed between the two countries recalled 
 the legend of the Red Sea basin having been sud- 
 denly made by an earthquake. Similar physical char- 
 acteristics, such as shape and size of head, slight 
 development of calf, and appearance of the hair, inet 
 us in the inhabitants of both coast-lines. The Shoho 
 tribes of the passes leading from the seaboard to 
 the Abyssinian highlands seemed almost singular 
 
 in respect of the low point of physical depression, 
 which was touched by them. But on afterwards 
 making the acquaintance of the Niclz-ra-tu 'I Ha-sd, 
 as the Al Ha-sa oasis is termed by Bedouin, we 
 met their very brothers, in the shape of certain tribes 
 of goat-pasturing Arabs, so desiccated of frame and 
 inferior of aspect that a group of them squatted round 
 a well, or sleeping on their faces with the fore-arm for 
 a pillow, might at first sight be mistaken for weeds of 
 the soil. Zoologically, the two countries seemed parts 
 of one another ; and even the name, Ba-nu Is-rd-il, 
 of the first wild creature shot by us at ZuUa, the tiny 
 African antelope, was through and through Semitic. 
 The floras also were similar. Lastly, several of the 
 names for common objects were the same on both sides 
 of the Straits of Babu '1 Man-dab. One such word, 
 the most indispensable of all, viz., mde, water, proved 
 to be equally that of Arab, Ethiopian, and Egyptian. 
 But on afterwards reading all the speculations to 
 which the extended range of the words in question 
 has contributed, from Prof Noldeke's "modest hypo- 
 thesis " that the " primitive seat of the Semites is to be 
 sought in Africa," to the view that Egyptian may form 
 a relic of Semitic speech before the triliteral root 
 development, the difficulties and dangers of aerial 
 navigation appeared inconsiderable compared with 
 those of philological. 
 '" V. p. 1 8, iwte. 
 
lOO 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Story of Ishmael and Hagar having in a special s&ns& fotuided the several nations 
 of the Mus-ta'-ri-ba, or, to give them the name by which they often pass, the 
 " Ishmaelite Arabs." Many miscellaneous gleanings on this subject are before us. 
 We do not presume to regard them as contributions, but merely as fragments, 
 some of which may yield suggestions to better equipped investigators. But in the 
 first place, certain general observations are necessary. 
 
 I. From very early times the northern Arabs were mainly nomads ; while 
 Yemen, as has been seen, was the seat of settled life and civilisation. But when 
 some European writers represent the contrast between the two groups as essen- 
 tially that between nomadic and settled manners, they go too far, and are not 
 justified by the Arabian chronicles. In point of fact, masses of the southern Arabs 
 have the Bedouin habit. Such are nearly all the hordes of the Persian Gulf 
 littoral — Al Mur-ra, Uj-man, Ba-nu Yas, and others; with notably Kah-tan in 
 inner Arabia. Nor should the statement be omitted that from the epoch of ancient 
 Tadmur, and before it, downward, the Mus-ta'-ri-ba have, on occasion, emulated 
 the Yemenite settlers in obtaining a grip of towns and castles. 
 
 II. The prevalence anciently of Jewish settlements and kingdoms within the 
 Arabian peninsula is one of those special subjects which require special reading. 
 We do not here allude to the signs of this which Baghdad exhibits. From the 
 ethnic standpoint, it may be of but slight significance that, in the Tigris and 
 Euphrates valleys, not only the towns, but the most outlying places, contain Jewish 
 traces : that on the upper Tigris, a tomb on the site of Nineveh is venerated alike 
 by Jew, Christian, and Muslim as that of Jonah ;^ that lower down the same river, 
 near Baghdad, the last resting-place, real or supposed, of Joshua^ attracts the 
 pilgrim ; that lower still, not far from Bussorah, the dust of Ezra ^ occupies a con- 
 spicuous shrine. These and other kindred legends naturally connect themselves with 
 the several deportations of the Jews from their native land by the Assyrian or 
 Babylonian kings. Hilla, three days S.W. of Baghdad, on the site of Babylon, still 
 contains a Jewish remnant. Modern Baghdad is understood to owe to Hilla the 
 several thousand Israelites who are now engaged in adding farthing to farthing on 
 
 1 With Arabs respectively Yu-nus, Yu-sha', U'zair, 
 three of Is-lam's several hundred prophets ; of whom 
 these six — Nuh (Noah), Ib-ra-him (Abraham), Mii-sa 
 (Moses), I'sa (Jesus), and Muhammad — are dignified 
 and distinguished above all others. As we write, the 
 Baghdad Jews are at war with the town authorities, 
 on the point of interment in Joshua's precincts. 
 When cholera lately appeared, orders were issued 
 which prevented them from carrying their dead there 
 in any circumstances. Nevertheless, on a Rabbi 
 
 dying, they took the body by night to the holy 
 ground ; and, resisting the police, interred it. Heads 
 were broken at the time ; and many of the Jews Avere 
 afterwards arrested. But the ancient money-lending 
 people, if a " feeble folk " in Prak, are stronger in 
 other quarters. So well has the telegraph been 
 worked by them, that the Sublime Porte has now 
 removed the "persecuting" Wi-li ; whose successor 
 has, however, caused the Rabbi's body to be taken up 
 and re-buried in another place. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 WHERE DID THE ARABS COME FROM? 
 
 lOI 
 
 the Tigris, in hopes of their children one day "sitting at meat" with European 
 princes. But when Ave import into this view the larger facts that Jews at a 
 very primitive period not only possessed districts of peninsular Arabia like 
 Khaibar, but in towns like Mecca and Yath-rib (Medina) lived side by side with 
 pagan Arabs, the close connection which existed when the world was younger 
 between Arabia and Israel is well illustrated. 
 
 III. Another topic seldom coming before the general reader is, the strength 
 and number of the attachments, to use an anatomical term, which connect Islamism 
 with Judaism. How the Prophet of Al Islam placed his system in the line of 
 ideal Judaism, by carrying it back to Abraham, may elsewhere be read. At first the 
 Jews, on learning that his theme was "the God of Abraham," hoped that it might 
 be his mission to convert Arabia to Judaism. They soon discovered that his 
 object was to bring out from the ancient Abrahamic stem doctrines which were new 
 to them. Then, instead of listening to him, they hated him, and tried to kill him. 
 At last, when he had gained the ear of Arabia, its Jews, to borrow a Kuranic 
 expression, entered in mtUtitudes the religion of Allah. The connection of these 
 remarks is with the prominence which we are soon to see assigned to Abraham in 
 Arabian legend. Wherever Islamism and the Arab speech have extended, the 
 distinctive titles of Kha-li-lu 'Hah, i.e.. Friend of God, often shortened into The 
 Friend, and Ab{t 'I Is-ldm, or Father of Is-ldni, belong to him. His name, in its 
 Arabicised form of Ib-rd-him, stands out in the Kur-an : in one text (S. iii.) it is 
 said that he was not a Jew, and not a Christian, but a Ha-mf^ and Muslim?' 
 
 IV. The statements last made introduce another; and that relates to the recur- 
 rence, if not invariably in the Kur-an, at least as flotsam and jetsam of Arabian 
 story, of much of the material which is stratified in Bible narratives. The Ishmael 
 and Hagar episode will presently be adverted to, both in its Hebrew and Arabian 
 forms. But first, this essential question may be anticipated, Are we justified in think- 
 ing such mixed, or common, Hebraeo- Arabic elements in any true sense proper to old 
 Arabia ? Or did not the Arabs first hear of them through Islamism } We know 
 of no modern European authorities who are of opinion that Muhammad received the 
 prophetic impulse from other than Arabian sources. But when it comes to deter- 
 mining where he got the histories which appear in the Kur-an, it is different. Most 
 of these recitals deal with ScrijDture characters, from Adam downward ; about whom 
 
 ' V. Index I., art. Ha-nif. 
 
 ^ V. Index I., art. Is-LAM. Not JMahometan, or 
 JMuhammadan, but Muslim (Arab pi. Mus-li-inte-na, 
 Persian pi. Mus-Um-ati) is the appellative applicable 
 to followers of El Is-lam. Considering how wide the 
 field is of England's naval, diplomatic, and consular 
 services, this point may at least be thought worthy of 
 
 a footnote. Even the mode of transcription suggests 
 a protest. Words formed in the mould of Semite 
 language require, when Aryans borrow them, careful 
 handling. Why should Muslim, at once proper noun, 
 common noun, and adjective, be altered into Mu-sal- 
 iiidn, Mussul-man, and, proh pudor J Mussulineii 9 
 
102 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 they tell the same stories, with considerable deviations and alterations, as those in 
 the Old and New Testaments. But others relate to ancient Arabian prophets of 
 whom we do not elsewhere read. In respect of narratives of the former category, 
 the supposition is reasonable, that Muhammad often heard them repeated ^ by per- 
 sons not unacquainted with the "holy library" of Jews and Christians, including 
 the gospels now regarded as " apocryphal." But this view does not reveal the 
 sources of those other Kuranic narratives which, so far as is known, never were 
 recorded before Muhammad's time. Of course the explanation comes ready to 
 hand, and is not unsanctioned by European scholars, that the Arab Prophet fabri- 
 cated all such " biographies," - just as our own preachers "bring in for the sake of 
 illustration " material which could hardly be verified. It is useless to appeal on these 
 topics to learned Arabs, whose stand is on the " impregnable rock " of Gabriel. 
 As for our own impressions, they chiefly depend on some acquaintance with ori- 
 ental life, and with the methods of unlettered workers. Men naturally are speakers 
 and hearers, not writers and readers. Gibbon said with equal truth and beautj-, 
 " The school of the Arabs was a clear firmament and a naked plain." Viewed as a 
 Book, Al Kur-an is unique : it is the substance of Al Is-lam ; and the Arab empire 
 grew out of it, like the oak out of its acorn. But we must remember that it did not 
 originate in any idea of book-making. After forty years or so of human contacts, 
 the Prophet spoke out of his mind's rich stores, till he died at sixty-two, without 
 even having caused an authentic collection of his sermonisings to be made. In 
 the present stage of historical science, the necessary reagents are wanting for the 
 separation of the real from the mythical in his stories of antiquity. But that does 
 not prevent us from expressing, with great deference, the opinion, that the narratives 
 in the Kur-an, however freely handled, are, more or less, " broad-based " on the 
 traditions of ages lost to chronology, the diffusion of which in large classes of the 
 Arabs before Muhammad is too probable to be reasonably doubted. 
 
 The preceding observations, it will be remembered, immediately followed 
 the statement that the tradition of Ishmael being the eponymous father of the 
 uncentralised Arabian nations was next to occupy us. That did not mean that 
 we intended to restrict ourselves to the notices in Genesis of Ishmael and Hagar. 
 The "gleanings" which we, at the same time, intimated the purpose of presenting. 
 
 1 See the question of whether Muhammad could 
 read and write shghtly noticed in Index I., art. 
 Kur-an. 
 
 2 In proof of the Kur-an's narratives being pecuHar 
 to it, and not rooted in old Arabian legend, we are 
 sometimes reminded that the literature of the " Days 
 of Ignorance " contains no trace of them. But nothing 
 that could be styled a book existed in the Arabic lan- 
 
 guage before Muhammad. Only the unwritten effu- 
 sions of the minstrels were then in circulation ; and 
 the world of the pagan Arabs lay at an infinite remove 
 from religious subjects. Even the god-name Allah, 
 by which their oaths were sworn, occurs but once or 
 twice in the seven ballads called Al Mu-'al-la-KAt, 
 q. V. in Index I. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 WHERE DID THE ARABS COME FROM? 
 
 103 
 
 are from many quarters. Admittedly none of them are historical, if that term be 
 strictly applied. There is nothing easier than to embellish history, unless it be to 
 fabricate it ; but if Sisyphus had been set for a change to use unhistoric tales as if 
 they were historic, he would soon have asked for his stone again. What here 
 suggests this remark is the subject immediately before us of Arab and Hebrew 
 origins. The ground as to this grows very difficult as soon as we pass beyond the 
 genuine tradition, attested in Scripture, that there was kinship between the two 
 peoples. But writing as we do in the lands of Semites, where the common belief is 
 that Abraham was an Arab, and through Is-ma-i'l the father of the more typically and 
 generally Bedouin nations, it would not be right altogether to shun this question. 
 The following references to it fall under the four divisions, of Physical Aspect ; 
 Speech, especially Proper names ; Characteristics ; and Traditions. Several of the 
 indications which present themselves are chiefly negative or neutral ; while all do not 
 point quite in the same direction : for they have not been chosen or sifted in the 
 interests of a set conclusion. But we consider this view to run like a thin thread 
 through them, that the Semite group, which, under a succession of great leaders, 
 developed into Israel, came originally from that foundry of nations, Arabia. 
 
 Physical Aspect. 
 
 It is not to be disputed that the cast of countenance commonly considered 
 typical of the Hebrew stock often appears in Arabs. And we have some 
 idea that this facial outline more prevails in the Ishmaelite than in the Yemenite 
 nations ; though this impression perhaps depends merely on our having seen more 
 of the former than of the latter. Thus the so-called Jewish visage often develops 
 a high degree of feminine, yet not effeminate, beauty in the youths of the Ae-ni-za 
 and the Sham-mar. Later in life, when sun and drought and grime, blended vacuity 
 and vigilance, and the habit of dwelling '' in the midst of alarms," have too soon 
 brought on old age, the same features often turn large and statuesque ; and the chest 
 and bust expand. In Bedouin adhering to the Bedouin life, obesity is so rare, as 
 rather to be taken as showing that the " cows have been in the corn " in the matter 
 of immediate ancestry.^ Nevertheless the tents of Sha-mi-ya and Al Ja-zi-ra con- 
 
 ^ Town life and Falstaffian habits (bating always 
 the " old sack ") — all one's time divided between 
 mosque and harem, and " sleeping upon benches 
 after noon'' — may give us Falstaffs even in Najd. 
 For a Bad-u who has taken to kingcraft, and who 
 is nothing if not a Hotspur, the keeping of his figure 
 is essential. A-mir Fai-sal {v. p. 36, ante) turned in 
 
 the end corpulent ; but that was after age and its in- 
 firmities, including blindness, had " tamed his force." 
 His son and successor, A'bdu ''lla, was naturally obese 
 and bovine ; in which, and in the contempt engen- 
 dered by it, causes of the Ibn Su-ii'ds' downfall are 
 recognisable. 
 
I04 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 tain many a powerful and formidable figure ; the lineaments, when inclining to the 
 " Jewish," suggesting the old heroic, not the modern, stamp. We shall not soon 
 forget the impression received, the first time of alighting at the tents of one of the 
 bluest-blooded of all the septs of the Ae-ni-za. Instead of scraggy figures, in gar- 
 ments like night-shirts, holding on to barebacked mares, stalwart warriors in casques 
 and tunics of chain-armour ^ came caracoling out. At supper-time, the Shekh's ina- 
 dlnf, or great guest-tent, attracted hundreds ; and many a head was there which 
 a painter engaged on some passage of Bible history would eagerly have copied. 
 In the drowsy firelight, we almost felt as if we had been asleep, like Steenie in 
 "Wandering Willie's Tale" in Redgauntlet, and on awaking found ourselves with a 
 company fresh from witnessing the drowning of Pharaoh's army. For a moment, 
 this fancy conjured up many a preconceived idea ; but the fallacy of confounding 
 resemblances, real or imaginary, with origination, was soon apparent. A type of 
 countenance approximating to the " Jewish" is even commoner in the Afghans than 
 in any division of the Arabs. ^ 
 
 Speech. 
 
 The view of " nations " and " languao'es " beino- convertible terms carries us 
 back to the description which connects the scattering of the human family with the 
 confounding of the Noachian language.^ Perhaps the tendency too much to accept 
 differences of speech as proofs of diversity of race may be regarded as a survival of 
 this conception ; but at all events let us not overlook the potentiality of a common 
 language, however formed, to weld into one, as the English tongue has done in the 
 United States, mixed waves of population. Speaking of the case before us : on the 
 one hand, no one can presume to say when the Southern, or Arabic, the Northern, 
 or Aramaic, and the Middle, or Hebraic, languages severally assumed their present 
 forms ; on the other, the date of Abraham's leading his father's horde from Haran 
 
 ^ A modern book on the armour and weapons of 
 Arabia is wanted. The Bedouin dir-a', or coat of 
 proof, though sometimes of camel's hide, is generally 
 of steel chain, topped with a hood or helmet, from its 
 shape easily mistaken by others than Don Quixotes 
 for a cup or basin — by the name for which, indeed 
 {tds), they call it. Modern articles of this description 
 are chiefly the work of Persian and I'raki armourers ; 
 but among desert heirlooms are blades and shirts of 
 proof belonging to ancient periods. To such refer 
 the following lines in a pre-Islamic ballad : — 
 
 Know ye not, between us and you 
 
 The squadrons charge and hurl javelins ! 
 
 Ours the casques and shields of Yemen, 
 And the blades that curve and straighten ! 
 Ours full coats of shining armour ; 
 iVIark how above the sword-belts they wrinkle ! 
 When by chance the warriors doff them, 
 You may see their skins black from them ; 
 Their folds are like the surface of a lake 
 Ruffled by the passing breezes. 
 
 — A'MR. 
 
 2 Afghani chroniclers apply the name Ba-m'i Is-rd-U, 
 or Childreji of Isj-ael, to their people ; but evidence is 
 wanting that they did so before Islamism. 
 
 3 Gen. xi. 1-9. 
 
CHAP. II. WHERE DID THE ARABS COME FROM? 
 
 los 
 
 into Palestine is undetermined, though conjectural!)' referred to B.C. 2000. One 
 strongly supported view is, that the tribes of Abraham and Lot, when they settled 
 in Canaan, spoke Aramaic, in which portions of the Bible are written ; and gradually 
 exchanged it for the kindred language of the Canaanites. The reference in Isa. 
 xix. 18 is understood by competent scholars to indicate that the Hebrew tongue 
 was "the language of Canaan" before it became that of Israel. In all probability 
 our posterity will be better informed on these points than we are.^ 
 
 It is a long step from the " children of Israel " to the British Association. We 
 make it for the sake of saying that if the two thousand members and upwards of 
 that body who annually take their holiday in lecturing, or hearing lectures, in the 
 cities of the United Kingdom, would one day send a small section to Arabia — not 
 to an English hotel in Damascus, but to the tents of Najd- — to write down from 
 men's and women's lips the words current among nomads, a very great desideratum 
 would be supplied. Here we can only mention that although the Bedouin have 
 the classical Arabic, they also use very many words which, if traceable to Arabic 
 at all, neither appear in Arabic dictionaries nor are claimed by Baghdad grammarians 
 as Arabic. This is too general a subject to be here pursued. Leaving on one side 
 common words, let us inquire what, if any, hints on the origin of the Arabs are to 
 be met with in their proper names. Place-names afford but few suggestions. Vast 
 expanses, both in the peninsula and in the adjoining lands of Arabs, bear no other 
 designation than Ha-mad, or desert. What the word ocean is to sailors, ha-indd is to 
 Arab nomads : vague, boundless, undefined ; yet all-sufficing, all-expressing ; home- 
 name at once of the individual and his race. Within the Ha-mad, wells (ab-ydr) and 
 springs {tiydit) form the traveller's landmarks ; and these may be called after men, 
 or tribes, or wild animals. But we know of no Arabian district which is named, 
 like so many in the New World, after native lands under other skies. 
 
 Two of the great meeting-places of the Bedouin in Sha-mi-ya, though each 
 larger than many an English parish, own no other name than, the one, Al I-kJiai- 
 dhar, or The Green ; the other, A I Mar-ta\ The Pasture. Names of persons are 
 
 ^ Par example. Since the abo\"e passage was writ- 
 ten, a happy find of upwards of 300 Cuneiform Tablets 
 at Tell el Amarna, in Upper Egypt, has supplied 
 philologists with new material. Among these " brick 
 epistles" (prob. date B.C. 1 500-1450) are letters from 
 governors of towns in Palestine to Egyptian person- 
 ages, written in a dialect which is held to exhibit in 
 certain important particulars "a close affinity to the 
 language of the Old Testament." See the edition of 
 the Tablets, containing a bibliography, which has 
 been published by the Trustees of the British Museum. 
 
 Lane, in the Preface of his great dictionary, thus ob- 
 serves : " It is evident that all the Semitic languages 
 diverged from one form of speech ; and the known 
 history of the Arabic is sufficient, I think, to show 
 that the mixture of the se\'eral branches of the 
 Shemites, in different degrees, with different foreign 
 races, was the main cause, if not of the di\-ergence, 
 at least of the decay, of their languages, as exempli- 
 fied by the Biblical Hebrew and Chaldee, and the 
 Christian Syriac." 
 
io6 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 more significant. We had not long sat down beside the Tigris, when it appeared 
 that Bible names, such as Mu-sa (Moses) ; Yu-suf (Joseph) ; Ai-yub (Job) ; D^-ud 
 (David) ; Sal-man or Su-lai-man (Solomon) ; I'-sa,^ were commoner in the Yemenite 
 than in the Ishmaelite Arabs ; whereas had the latter in any special sense been from 
 Abraham, it ought to have been otherwise. But the explanation was of the 
 simplest. For we have seen how, in the first' flush of Islamism, the Jews of Al 
 Hi-jaz embraced it : not the inferior classes only — the Jew vintners, for instance, in 
 whose hands was the wine trade, and who, when the new faith plucked down their 
 flags,^ thought it best to turn Muslim — but the men of culture too, the " Scribes and 
 Pharisees " of Mecca and Medina.^ Many of these would, sooner or later, drop their 
 Jewish names. A Baghdad Jew informs us that when, some centuries ago, a mem- 
 ber of his stock embraced Islamism, the family name of Obadiah bin Shalom became 
 changed into the Islamite one of A'bdu '11a bin Su-Iai-man. But very many other 
 converts have kept the old names, especially names living again in the Kur-an. 
 Not only the fact that names of the Hebraeo- Arabic category have prevailed since 
 Islamism among the Arabs is thus accounted for ; but equally the circumstance that 
 the frequency of such names diminishes in the several nomadic Arab nations in the 
 ratio of separation, or remoteness, from the Islamic centres. By way of testing 
 this, we obtained from the desert of Shi-mi-ya a list containing forty-four tribe names, 
 and thirty-eight personal names, of the Ae-ni-za. The roll is now before us ; and, as 
 it chances, there is not one name of the Is-ma-i'l and Ya'-kub ^ species in it. Also, 
 as it chances — for in both cases it might as easily have been otherwise — it does not 
 contain a single name of that brand-new series which Muslim have manufactured 
 by the prefixing of A'bd {worshipper) to one of the " ninety-nine goodly names," 
 
 1 I'-SA 'l Ma-sih {Jesus ike Messiah) having been 
 made by Muhammad one of the six prophetic pillars 
 of his theological structure, the name I'-sa has spread 
 in Arab families. The Arabs have certainly confused 
 between Jesus and Esau, and given the name of the 
 latter to the former ; but the two names have nothing 
 to do with one another. In the Kur-an, t'-sa simply 
 is a transcription of Jesus. 
 
 - We know from the ballads of the " Days of Igno- 
 rance " that wine-sellers' booths had flags for signs in 
 ancient Arabia. A'n-tar, depicting a finished gallant, 
 describes him as great at making the vintners strike 
 their flags (in token of his having bought up their 
 store). La-bid in his best-known poem thus addresses 
 the fair Na-wa-i'a : — 
 
 Perhaps thou knowest not how many a bright and pleasant 
 night of fun and fellowship 
 
 I have spent in moonlight entertainments. And to how many 
 a vintner's flag I have been constant, as long as it was fly- 
 ing, with the grape-juice at a premium ; 
 
 Buying up the wine, every black old skin of it, or jar smeared 
 
 with pitch out of which they have ladled after breaking the 
 
 seal on its mouth. 
 And how many a pure morning draught I have drunk off, when 
 
 the glee-maiden was drawing her guitar (Arabic, mu-wat- 
 
 tar) to her, and her thumb adjusting it. 
 
 5 One of these Jewish converts, by name A'bdu 'llah 
 ibn Sa-ba, closely attached himself to A'li in the stormy 
 period of the first four Caliphs. He instituted the 
 practice of giving allegorical meanings, or any other 
 meanings which one pleases, to the " plain Kur-an." 
 In spite of A'li's anger and reprobation, he sought to 
 teach that A'li was an incarnation of the Godhead. 
 Thus, through a Jew of San-a', or rather perhaps of 
 Egypt, Islamism received in Arabia, soon after the 
 Prophet's death, a tincture of all the foreign elements 
 of which it afterwards became the receptacle in Persia. 
 V. Index I., art. SuN-Ni and ShJ-I'. 
 
 ^ Ishmael and Jacob. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 WHERE DID THE ARABS COME FROM? 
 
 107 
 
 or attributes, supplied to Allah by the magnificent Semitic imagination of the 
 Prophet.^ 
 
 Not only are all the names in the list purely secular or " heathen," but all of 
 them are regularly connected with some Arabic root ; the idea wrapped up in which 
 is now an abstract one, now a concrete. Often the name denotes prosperity, 
 or a " flow " of pastoral wealth. One great Shekh of the Sba', Muhammadu - 'I 
 Mis-rib, is content to borrow the name of the humble utensil {inis-rib) in which milk 
 is set out to turn sour ! Names denoting some bodily mark or peculiarity, or some 
 trait of character, are common.'^ Equally so are those taken from plants or animals ; 
 sometimes from birds or beasts of prey ; sometimes from creatures as lowly as the 
 mouse or hedgehog. The important subject of the animal god, or totem — a loan 
 word from the vocabulary of the Ojibway Indians — here crops up; but notwith- 
 standing much patient inquiry, we can offer no new observations tending to support 
 the view which is held by a good many European literati, that Arab stocks whose 
 names are those of plants or animals anciently believed themselves to be the chil- 
 dren of them. The next time that the Royal Welsh Fusiliers garrisons Hong- 
 Kong, there is nothing to prevent a Chinese archaeologist from conjecturing that 
 the white goat marching at the head of it is its totem. The same savant, with- 
 out going back to prehistoric ages, or citing American savages, may also 
 find abundant material with which to build up his theorj' — from the British lion 
 and American eagle down to the Scandinavian raven. And yet all of us know 
 how far removed from sober fact his speculations would be. If any one were to 
 suggest to Shekh Fahd, the present head of the Ibn Hadh-dhal division of the 
 Ae-ni-za, that the life of himself and his tribe mysteriously depended on the Lynx 
 [fahd) species, he would be as indignant as the Plantagenets would be if consid- 
 
 1 E.g., A'bdu 'r Rah-man, A'bdu 'r Ra-him, A'bdu '1 
 Ka-dir. In India all these names are fast coming 
 under truncation. Thousands of A'bdu '1 Kadirs, 
 especially those of the race-course and polo-ground, 
 content themselves with the Ka-dir, as it were our Mr 
 Strong. A'bdu '1 Ka-rim {servant of the Bounteous) 
 tends to become in Bombay or Calcutta Mr Cream ! 
 
 ^ The casual reader may think the name i\Iu- 
 hammad not a "secular" one; but it was known, 
 although it was not common, among the ancient 
 pagan Arabs. 
 
 ^ The quaUties personified in Bedouin names are 
 chiefly the irascible and strong -handed ; but others 
 appear — as Ibnu V wa-tad, son of the tent-peg, own 
 brother of our " son of a gun." Names borrowed from 
 the tent replace ^^■ith them the Halls, Rooms, Wyn- 
 dowes, Kitchens, of house-building people. White 
 and Black, Short and Long, Hand, Head, and Legge 
 
 are good desert names. The noble family of Smythes, 
 the Carpenters, Tailleurs, Cookes, and Barbours are, 
 of course, absent — every handicraft ranking below 
 beggaiy in the eyes of the nomads. The Semitic 
 Ibn, Bin, or Be7i, ser\-ing alike for Mac and O' of 
 Celtic, and s and son {Jones, fohnsoii) of Welsh and 
 English, is never wanting. Next to the obligation 
 of transmitting the paternal name, that of publicly 
 displaying it is felt by Arabs. Negro {Si-dT) or 
 Abyssinian {Ha-ba-sliT) slaves reared among them, 
 and called by some such name as Mu-sa, when, as 
 often happens, they grow wealthy, seeing that in 
 Arabia they cannot make a pedigree, at least invent 
 a patronymic. With no true gentile name available, 
 poetical substitutes are fabricated — e.g., Mti-sd ibn 
 jA-d'n, Moses, son of a hungry one — name of evil im- 
 port for one's commissariat, by which a guide once 
 engaged bv us at Ku-wait called himself 
 
io8 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 ered under the protection of the broom ; or the Clan Chattan, if lield spiritually 
 inter-related with the cat. These analogies may be considered faulty, on the 
 ground that cognisances and heraldry are unknown to Bedouin. This may partly 
 be so. A white-and-green banner is carried by the Wah-ha-bis ; and a pur- 
 ple one with a green border by A-mir Muhammad's musters.^ But the uncen- 
 tralised Bedouin charge in whirlwinds ; with no marks to distinguish brave from 
 brave, or friend from foe. We know a man whose face is so small and hairy, 
 and his neck and occiput so remarkable, that his friends may meet him 
 without being the wiser for it ; while half a street off one in rear of him 
 cannot mistake him ! But this is impossible with Arabs. Their long cloaks, 
 or otherwise long chemises,^ make every one of them like the other ; and the 
 backs of their heads and necks are veiled by the shawl-like kerchief or kaf-fi-ya. 
 In a iniUe, it is only by their cries that they are distinguishable.^ Therefore if 
 the Bad-u who has for his name one of the Rose or Lilly, Fox or Bullock, cate- 
 gory had marked himself accordingly, it would have been but reasonable ; and 
 the learned would have had the less occasion to transfer to Semites the bestial 
 deities of the Red Indians. 
 
 Characteristics. 
 
 If Al Is-lam have for supreme Prophet Muhammad, son of A'bdu llah, the 
 figurehead of Arabism, both secular and religious, is the patriarch Abraham. So 
 much is this so, that instead of here speaking of the characteristics of the 
 Ishmaelite Arabs in the abstract, let us look at them through their type and 
 father. It may be difficult to determine how much of the halo which surrounds the 
 patriarch in Arabia is genuine and ancient ; and how much depends on the 
 ideas of later ages having been thrown back into his time by Judaism and 
 Islamism. But we have already ventured to regard it as possible, that the 
 memoirs of the leaders of Israel which the Kur-an contains formed the common 
 legendary heritage of all the great divisions of the Semites long ages before they 
 became Islamic. Credulity, we know, is apt to be carried to extremes ; but so 
 also is the opposite quality. The myth theory in historical investigation is like 
 calomel in medicine : used scientifically it proves serviceable ; in rash hands it is 
 capable of turning all the past into a desert. In an atmosphere of pure scholar- 
 
 1 On the track between I'rik and Mecca, Ibnu 'r 
 Ra-shid's standard, carried half-flying, half- furled, on 
 a tall dromedary, guides the pilgrims. 
 
 2 The long loose shirt of unbleached (and too 
 often unwashed) hnen, reaching nearly to the ankle, 
 which, when the weather is mild, forms, night and day, 
 the single garment of Bedouin men and women, is 
 
 called, in desert speech, ka-mis. Ca-nii-sa or cainesia 
 was a Roman soldier's word, and the Arabs may have 
 got it from the legionaries of the Syrian frontier. 
 
 3 The Abyssinian in " falling on " vociferates his 
 own name and honours ; the Bedouin, the name of 
 his sister or little daughter. The invocation of "lady- 
 loves " is a refinement not yet attained by Semites. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 WHERE DID THE ARABS COME FROil ? 
 
 109 
 
 ship, at Bonn or Berlin, attempts to resolve the patriarch of the Arab race into 
 a mere oriental Theseus may meet with favour ; but hardly so where we are now 
 writing, beside the blue Euphrates. 
 
 Perhaps the question of whether Abraham should be called an Arab, or, as in 
 Deut. xxvi. 5, a " wandering Aramaean, " is not a very important one. Sprenger 
 says with admirable brevity and directness, " All Semites are, according to my 
 conviction, successive layers of Arabs." ^ At all events, the father of the 
 Hebrews was essentially a nomad; a man of flocks and herds and tents (Heb. 
 xi. 9). But beyond that, the routine of pastoral life had been varied in his 
 case by a round of adventurous travel. Above all, he had seen the civilisation 
 of Egypt^ — source of light and leading for so much of the ancient world. If 
 traditions guaranteed by the widest acceptance may be followed, the cult of his 
 father Terah, in which were images, was rejected by him. Perhaps from his 
 intercourse with Egyptian sages, perhaps through other educative influences,^ he 
 held a more spiritual conception of the Divine than others did. In secular matters, 
 also, he was full of experiences. He knew that an area under corn will feed far 
 more people than it will do if kept as pasture. All round the " oaks of Mamre 
 which are in Hebron"-^ (Gen. xiil. 18), his cultivation spread; the agricultural 
 succeeded the nomadic stage ; and the foundations were laid of that later epoch 
 when the ideal of every Israelite was to dwell under fruit-trees of his own planting. 
 If the fragments relating to Abraham which are pieced together in Genesis be read 
 apart from the supernatural element, it will be perceived how much the Hebrew 
 horde-leader had in common, both personally and in respect of what Americans 
 call " surroundings," with the great pastoral figures of Euphrates land now. See 
 him first in his daily life, as shown in ch. xviii. 1-8, deep in the duties 
 of hospitality. And here it may be proper parenthetically to notice the dash 
 of foreign colouring which is introduced into the Western copy of this picture 
 through the seating of him at his tent - door. The very feature which distin- 
 guishes the Semite tent from the tents of all non-Arab nomads is that it has 
 no door, or even special doorway. Instead of being round like the Turk-u-man's, 
 Avith but a churlish aperture in the centre ; great or small it forms an oblong 
 
 1 V. Alte Geogr. Arabiens (Bern, 1S75), p. 293. 
 
 2 The Kur-an (S. vi.) contains the following- repre- 
 sentation : And ivhen the night oversliadowed him (^\s- 
 ra-him), he saw a star. He said, this is my Lord: and 
 when it disappeared, he said, I love itot the evanescent. 
 And when he saw the moon iiprisi?!g, he said, this is 
 my Lord: and when it set, he said, were it not that 
 my Lord do guide me, surely I were of the people who 
 have lost the way. AndwJien he saw the sun uprising, 
 he said, this is my Lord, this is greater : and when it 
 
 set, he said, O people, verily I am clear of that which 
 ye associate \with God] : verily I have set my face 
 towards Him who created the heavens and the earth, 
 turning to the right way : a?id I am not of those who 
 atti-ibute to God a partner. 
 
 3 Hebron, situated about 20 miles S. of Jerusalem, is 
 called to this day Al Kha-lil, in memory of Abraham. 
 It is one of the few existing rivals of Damascus in 
 antiquity. 
 
I lO 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 booth, closed at the back and ends, but having its front as hospitably open as 
 its owner's heart is. In the original the word is pctah, which means opening. 
 If another rendering than door could be suggested, and for sat something like 
 reclmed resting on an elbozo substituted, the pose would be more lifelike. Fol- 
 lowing out this fancy, we just now turned up the text, half in hopes of find- 
 ing that 'the youngling "tender and good" fetched by Abraham for his guests 
 was in Arabic not a calf but a lamb — for the nomad Arab despises horned 
 cattle as part of the estate of townsmen. But the word is ben bakar — in Arabic 
 as in Hebrew, ji'(??«zo- of a coiu : not ra-Jicl, a ewe lamb — the rikJil or ra-khil 
 of Arabic.^ x^fter a foray, the Bad-u may chance to be thus provided ; but the 
 difficulty of "lifting" slow-travelling oxen is as recognised and sad a fact with 
 him as that of marching off stacks of corn was with our own rievers of lone aeo. 
 A calf of the "wild cow" or bovine antelope may, it is true, be run into by his 
 greyhounds ; but the calf which Abraham presented was from " the herd " : and 
 the colouring is by so much the less Arabian. And yet it is impossible to read 
 the Biblical books in these Euphrates pastures, without a feeling of wonder being 
 experienced at the permanence of oriental scenes and characters — that is, in parts of 
 the East which have escaped the grip of Europe. The correspondence of Abra- 
 ham's with modern Bedouin hospitality in the absence from both of intoxicants, was 
 noticed in another context as a fact perhaps not devoid of significance. The chief 
 object wanting to help the verisimilitude is the coffee-pot : but not even in Muham- 
 mad's time, far less in Abraham's, was the black juice now so dear to Arabs known 
 among them.^ A second tableau, that in ch. xiv., showing the patriarch's conduct 
 
 ' Whence of course the name of Jacob's trans- 
 Euphrates wife (and cousin) Rachel ; whose acts and 
 traits as given in Genesis — notably her woman-craft in 
 concealing in her camel-saddle the teraphiiu (prob. 
 images of family - gods) which she had stolen from 
 her father Laban (ch. xxxi. 34, 35) — are typical, if we 
 except the idols, of tent -life on the Euphrates still. 
 Rachel's tomb near Bethlehem is one of the many 
 other shrines elsewhere noticed, which Jews, Chris- 
 tians, and Mushm unite in honouring. The name 
 Ke-bil-rah which is given to it in the Hebrew Scrip- 
 tures, signifies in Arabic a place of burial generally. 
 A modern Muslim structure of some pretensions now 
 forms the descendant, through a long hne of suc- 
 cessive marks or pyramids, of the original grave- 
 stone set up by Jacob (Gen. .xxxv. 20). 
 
 - The traditions about the discovery by the Arabs 
 of their now indispensable substitute at once for food, 
 stimulant, medicine, and occupation, are not veiy trust- 
 worthy. Perhaps they found the fruit or berry, by 
 
 them called bunn, in their own country. Perhaps they 
 had it from abroad, and afterwards introduced its cul- 
 tivation. Their view of it, at all events at first, appears 
 from their calling the decoction of it kah-wa — an an- 
 cient Arabic word for wine. Between this kah-iua and 
 Kafta, an Abyssinian district, the choice lies of a deri- 
 vation for the world-wide name of coffee. Like almost 
 every other good thing, this precious gift has generally 
 met on its first introduction with an unkind reception. 
 In Arabia zealots pronounced it one of the intoxicants 
 forbidden by the Kur-in. Somehow it became known to 
 Bacon that " they have in Turkey a drink called coffee, 
 . . . which comforteth the brain and heart and helpeth 
 digestion." But the new drink did not appear in 
 England till the middle of the 1 7th century. Straight- 
 way a royal proclamation was put out against it ; 
 because of the retaiUng of it {i.e., in coffee-houses) 
 "being used to nourish sedition, spread lies, and scan- 
 dalise great men." On that failing, oppressive taxation 
 was tried, but, thanks to smuggling, ineffectually. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 WHERE DID THE ARABS COME FROM? 
 
 Ill 
 
 as a leader, though of a less primitive stamp than the other, is in its way fraught 
 with illustration. His nephew Lot, after entering Canaan with him from Haran 
 (Har-ran of Arabs ^), long a halting-place of Terah and his horde in their progress 
 from " Ur of the Chaldees," ^ had separated from him at Bethel, to settle down in 
 the "cities of the Plain." When after thus turning townsman Lot was made a 
 prisoner, in what seems to have been a tribal raid on Sodom, it will be remem- 
 bered how Abraham, on hearing of it from a fugitive, started off with 318 of his 
 following, just as a Shekh of the Sham-mar would do now ; overtook the raid- 
 ers ; fell upon them by night and smote them ; drove them before him from 
 Dan to Hobah, north of Damascus ; recovered the plunder, " and also brought 
 again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people." 
 On the same occasion, when the mysterious priest of Supreme El, " Melchize- 
 dek. King of Salem," '^ came out to meet Lot's rescuers, Abraham acted just 
 
 1 Name to this day of a well-watered district, and 
 all but vanished town, on the Bi-likh, above its junc- 
 tion with the Euphrates, in the north-western corner 
 of Al Ja-zi-ra. 
 
 2 In Gen. xi. 31, " Ur of the Chaldees" is explicitly 
 mentioned as the locality from which Terah " went 
 forth . . . to go into the land of Canaan.'' In 
 V. 28, the same place is called the " land of 
 nativity" of the horde. But unfortunately there is 
 nothing written to show decisively where Ur was. 
 Stephen, in his speech before the Sanhedrim, placed 
 it by implication in " Mesopotamia" (Acts vii. 2) : but 
 it is not known whether he used that name in its 
 vaguest and widest, or in its more defined, sense {v. p. 
 70, et f n. I, supra). In Dr R. Pococke's magnificent 
 folios (Lond. 1 745), A Desc7-iptio7i of the East, and some 
 other Countries, vol. ii. p. 1 59, we find, " Many learned 
 men, and the Jews universally, are of opinion that 
 ' Ur of the Chaldees ' is the place called Ourfa by the 
 Arabs, to which the Turks give the name of Roi-ha, 
 or Rou-ha ; and which is generally agreed to be the 
 antient city of Edessa ; " and further, " The Jews 
 say that this place is called in Scripture Otcr-casdim, 
 i.e., the fire ofChaldea; out of which, they say, God 
 brought Abraham ; and on this account the Tal- 
 mudists affirm that Abraham was here cast into the 
 fire, and was miraculously delivered." When wander- 
 ing in 1S87 over the steppe land between Sinjar and 
 Mons Masius in which is Urfa, we felt the same 
 sense of Abraham ^^■hich one does of the " Duke " (of 
 Buccleuch) in southern Scotland. Eveiywhere was 
 Abraham's Mosque, Abraham's Well, or something 
 that was Abraham's. If local traditions bear any evi- 
 
 dential value, then has the mixed pastoral and agricul- 
 tural land of Paddan-aram some claim to be identified 
 ^'^'ith the family home of Abraham. On the other hand, 
 modern scholars (rendering Ur, not by fire, but as a 
 place-name, and guided by the suggestion which is in 
 Kas-dim = Chaldaans, that Ur must be in Chaldaea) go 
 at least 400 miles lower down for an identification — 
 viz., to the Ur2i of the Assyrian inscriptions, where are 
 now the ruins of Al Mu-kai-yar (commonly written 
 Mu-gair), in the Babylonian mud-flat. The American 
 people have spent a great many dollars in having ex- 
 ca\'ations made at this site. In Gen. .xxiv. a glimpse 
 of Abraham's fatherland is opened, in connection with 
 the fetching from it of a maiden for his son Isaac. 
 The details therein given have been read by us, both in 
 the Euphrates marsh land round Al Mu-kai-yar, and 
 on the Urfa plateau. In the latter locality the veri- 
 similitude is striking, and in the former not so. Al 
 Mu-kai-yar, though now upwards of 100 miles from the 
 head of the Gulf of Persia, must anciently have been a 
 maritime town. Wells are not among its character- 
 istic features. Even at Baghdad, where gravelly layers 
 more or less qualify the alluvium, a well which we 
 once caused to be dug in the hard desert collapsed 
 the first winter. 
 
 ^ The piece introducing the Canaanite high priest 
 whose blessing Abraham valued is relegated by mod- 
 ern critics to " post-exilic " times ; and is declared to 
 be quite unhistorical. The fact seems worth stating, 
 that neither Al Kur-an, nor, so far as we can dis- 
 cover, the floating lore of the .A.rabs, knows anything 
 of Melchizedek. 
 
112 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 as an d-kid} or leader of Bedouin Arabs, now does to win or maintain 
 a name for generosity, in foregoing his own portion of the recovered booty, 
 while claiming their shares for his companions. Other parallelisms will presently 
 be noticed between the traits displayed by modern Bedouin Arabs and the tradi- 
 tional character of Abraham. Here we are tempted to speak of a certain ancient 
 vestige, much associated with the Patriarch, in which it has lately been thought 
 that there is guidance ; and that is circumcision. The quasi-sacramental character 
 borne by this custom among the Jewish descendants of Abraham is answer- 
 able for some confusion of ideas. In the ages when criticism. Itself dormant, had 
 no materials to work on, it even was considered that the fact of the Arabs not 
 circumcising on the eighth day after birth like the Jews, or at any other set time, 
 but whenever convenient before man-growth, connected them in a very special 
 manner with Ishmael — circumcised, according to Gen. xvii., in his \2,th year. The 
 difficulties involved in the literal reading of the Biblical narrative were not adverted 
 to. Abraham was seen establishing in his following at Mamre on a religious basis 
 — with primitive lawgivers a common method — a custom which may have com- 
 mended itself to him on physical and hygienic grounds during his sojourn in Egypt ; 
 where its prevalence long before the Israelitish captivity is attested by monuments : 
 and thereupon was assigned to him the authorship of a practice which existed in 
 unrecorded times, and among the most distant members of the human family.^ 
 -How in the progress of time all this has been sifted may elsewhere be read. 
 No Protestant Church now refuses to sanction researches after the ordinary 
 
 1 Literally knotter (of others) together, as for an 
 enterprise. Under the Arabian tribal system it is 
 not always that the Shekh is also d'-ktd, or gJiaz-u- 
 leader. The Shekhate certainly is hereditary ; though 
 a Shekh who tried to draw the bond of obedience too 
 tight would soon lose his grip. Every tribesman re- 
 tains not only his vote, but his absolute free will, in 
 all matters save those leading up to war. An elder 
 TDrother may be the Shekh or Nestor, because of his 
 experience ; and a younger the a' -kid (with the Sham- 
 mssja-fd) because of his activity. No man need mount 
 for foray unless his blood warm to it. But the owner 
 of a mare who will lounge in the encampment when 
 the riders are out will have a sorry time of it. So 
 far as mere razzia goes, any Shekhling may ha^'e an 
 innings as a'-kid. A time and place of assembling are 
 fixed by him ; then according to the response given 
 a plan is formed. Out of the booty every man gets 
 something — one a camel, another a mare ; in the 
 making of which distribution the a'-kid's generosity 
 is proved. When A'n-tar boasts, in his poem, of seek- 
 ing the fight, but holding his hand from the spoils, not 
 
 merely the Najdian ideal, but equally the Abrahamic, 
 is represented. 
 
 2 Among the sheerest savages of the modern world 
 are the S. African Bechwana, in whom from all 
 accounts are no religious vestiges ; yet their lads are 
 circumcised. In the heathen hordes of Madagascar 
 the same piece of trimming, performed amid drunken 
 orgies, marks the inclusion of their youths among the 
 tribe's warriors. On the Amazon, in the South Seas, 
 and among Australian aborigines, circumcision is 
 practised. Rising in the scale, in ancient times 
 it formed a usage of civilised peoples of Central 
 America. With Abyssinian Christians it is general. 
 What has kept it out of Europe is not so much the 
 temperate climate — to Western people shy of water 
 its value would be even greater than to half-amphibious 
 races — as the prejudice conceived against it owing to 
 its association with Judaism and Islamism. Never- 
 theless, two military surgeons have lately stated to 
 us that the rising generation of our countrymen show 
 signs of taking- to it. 
 
CHAT. II. 
 
 WHERE DID THE ARABS COME FROM? 
 
 "3 
 
 human methods into the origin and structure of each separate writing which is 
 contained in the Biblical literature. On points of historical, as of physical, 
 criticism, advantage is taken of every help which science offers.^ And thus it 
 happens that nowhere is the inference of Abraham having come out of Arabia 
 more led up to than in a recent monograph on circumcision by a clerical in- 
 vestigator. The high authority quoted ^ does not, indeed, concern himself with 
 the origin of the Arabs. In dealing with his subject proper, he however dis- 
 covers in a certain passage in Exodus '^ traces of the Arabian origin of Jewish 
 circumcision. In gathering in this result, he brings forward indications of El, or 
 "Jehovah," having originally formed a tribal deity of Arabia} So that if the 
 further we advance the greater seems the probability of Israel's having had 
 
 ' The reader who has not inquired into these subjects 
 may possibly appreciate the information that educated 
 opinion, after centuries of disputation, now inclines to 
 one of two extremes. Critics of the more trenchant 
 school tell us that the narratives in our Bibles, what- 
 ever they may be, are not historical. The majority 
 are satisfied with thinking that a copj'ist's note or a 
 redactor's commentary may in divers places have be- 
 come fused with the Hebrew manuscripts ; none of 
 which, we believe, are older copies than the 7th 
 or 8th century A.D. The complexity of the issues, 
 and the importance of the judgment pending, are 
 against the probability of an early adjustment. To 
 qualify any one effectively to approach the question 
 from the literary side, not merely special training is 
 essential, but a mastery of the Hebrew, Arabic, 
 Aramaic, Syriac, Assyrian. Phoenician, and Moabite 
 languages ; also a knowledge of the evidence which 
 the monuments and cuneiform tablets of Western 
 Asia and Egypt are from time to time revealing. 
 Therefore it is not surprising that, in hopelessness of 
 so vast an equipment ever being available, enfants 
 pej'diis of the secular army are in our day entering the 
 strong place through numerous posterns. 
 
 2 Rev. J. K. Cheyne, D.D., Oriel Prof, of Interpre- 
 tation of Scripture, Oxford : in Ency. Brit., vol. v. 
 p. 790. 
 
 ^ Our reference is to the fragment in ch. iv. 25, 26, 
 narrating how Moses' Midianitish, i.e. Bedouin Arab, 
 wife, Zipporah, on a certain journey, when Jehovah 
 sought to kill Moses, ascribed it to the neglect of cir- 
 cumcision in his family, hastily circumcised their son, 
 and thereby appeased the deity. See Prof Cheyne's 
 rendering of this passage in the reference cited in the 
 preceding footnote. But Wellhausen explains it more 
 clearly, in his art. MoSES, in Ency. Brit., vol. xvi. p. 
 S61, fn. I. What the Arab woman did with the am- 
 putated portion was, not to " cast it at his (Moses') 
 
 feet" as appears both in the authorised and the re\'ised 
 \-ersions, but to touch another part of his body luith it, 
 as a sign that the circumcision of the child was substi- 
 tuted for that of the klia-tan, or bridegroom. In Arabic, 
 the same word {kha-ta-na) ■v\'hich means circumcising 
 also means the making of a feast to which people are 
 invited because of a marriage and a circiuncision . 
 Capt. Burton {Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, vol. 
 iii. p. 80, f.n.). Prof. Robertson Smith (Letters to 
 Scotsman newspaper, 1880), and other travellers in 
 Arabia, heard of nations in which circumcision is 
 held over to be performed at the time of marriage. 
 It serves as a kind of ordeal for adult youths, be- 
 fore they are accounted full tribesmen. The surgery 
 which they then suffer is said to be of an aggravated 
 description ; and the bride witnesses it, and if the 
 patient tiinch, refuses to have him for her husband 
 (Doughty, vol. i. p. 128). 
 
 Al Kur-an nowhere mentions circumcision ; but 
 commentators so interpret certain words in it mean- 
 ing pm-ity or purification. Muhammad was content 
 to leave the practice where he found it — a ^^•ell- 
 established national usage. In Arabian towns, and 
 far inore so in Persia, religious and symbolical con- 
 ceptions ha\-e grown into it. We have even seen 
 Indians — needless to say Shiites — before beginning to 
 write a letter, snip off, or fold back, the upper right- 
 hand corner of the paper, in token of its having been 
 "purified," or for aught that we know "sacrificed." 
 But all such " ritualism " is foreign to Arabia. 
 
 * To support the \\e.\\' of Israel having first known 
 El in Arabia, and continued in Palestine to regard 
 that as his habitation, out of which he " marched " to 
 fight for them on special occasions, Judg. v. 4 and 
 Hab. iii. 3 are cited by one school of Biblicists. Seir 
 and Edom in the former, equally with Teman and 
 Paran in the latter passage, are Arabian places. 
 
114 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 an Arabian history before settling in Palestine, the signs of it are at least well 
 authenticated. 
 
 In next essaying to connect the Bedouin Arabs with Abraham through certain 
 aspects of their manners, we know that the ground will not bear too strong conclu- 
 sions ; nor can we here even make the most of it without anticipating surveys which 
 are reserved for future chapters. It will appear in the sequel that Islamism is a 
 townsman's creed or profession ; and Bedouinism a desert product. But with regard 
 to the latter, the difficulty already stated is always present of adjudging in the 
 several traits of the Bedouin how much is percolated Islamism, and how much is 
 really ancient material. This remark is in the fullest degree applicable to the 
 very first Bedouin feature which it here occurs to us to mention, primitive Arabian 
 monotheism. In how far this has come down from Abraham, and in how far 
 it is traceable to other sources, is a very mixed question. And so in regard to 
 perhaps the next strongest lineament of Bedouin character — the love of entertaining 
 strangers. Or rather, there is here even a greater need of caution in respect of 
 artificial glosses. For without the freest use of hospitality, there could be no life or 
 movement within the Arabian desert. In England, before railways, the case was 
 slightly similar. Nevertheless, the Bad-u's service of a guest has many special 
 features. It is not merely that to be a Bedouin is to be hospitable — hospitable not 
 with the idea of entertaining angels unawares, persons capable of helping on a 
 son, or leaving one a legacy ; not in the sense of gathering together people who 
 would rather dine at home ; but in that of truly ministering to the tired and hungry. 
 However poor the inmates of a tent may be, no one is ever allowed to enter it 
 and leave it, without eating of the best which it contains. The softest carpet, or 
 fleeciest sheepskin, is always spread for the stranger. Born trafficker as the Bad-u 
 is, he will not sell bread, or milk, or butter. In travelling from Baghdad south- 
 ward, one of the first signs of nearing Najd is that the villages have no bread- 
 shops. Hardware and chintzes, brought from Bombay by those w^ho go there with 
 horses, are exposed for sale, but not the staff of life. Now in all this the Bedouin 
 loves to think that he follows his " Father Abraham." The stories of the " Friend 
 of God" with which Muhammad seasoned his addresses do not come much in 
 his way. But there is a legend of the Patriarch which is not in the Kur-an, 
 and not in Genesis, but in the breasts of men and women, and in secular poems 
 — how, when the evening meal was ready, he would refuse to taste it till some 
 " son of the road " should arrive to share it ; ^ and that is one of many others 
 
 1 Some may remember how, in one of his master- 
 pieces, the " Bij-stan," or Garden, Sa'-di has worked 
 up this legend into a didactic piece inculcating tolera- 
 tion. One day " the Friend," on receiving a stranger, 
 and seeing him dip his hand in the dish without call- 
 
 ing on God, angrily turned him out. Whereupon God 
 rebuked him, saying : These hundred years have I 
 fed and clothed him ; to thee is one minute of him 
 intolerable? What if he worship fire? wilt thou 
 therefore draw back the hand of charity ? 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 WHERE DID THE ARABS COME FROM? 
 
 IIS 
 
 which passes from mouth to mouth in the black tent cities. Not only "the 
 young ravens which cry," but every living creature, receives its food from God in 
 the simple faith of the Bad-u : and no greater favour can be shown to him than 
 when a brother partakes, as from him, of his appointed portion. ^ 
 
 Traditions. 
 
 On the whole, perhaps, the Kur-an is more copious in its references to Abra- 
 ham than the Hebrew Scriptures are. In one Su-ra are two important notices of 
 him : in the first, as supernaturally receiving the command to purify the Ka'-ba 
 of Mecca ; ^ and in the second, as engaged in raising the foundations of the same 
 structure,-^ assisted by his son Is-ma-i'l. But the Bible episode of the banishment 
 of Hagar'' does not appear in the Kur-an; according to which, Ishmael, and not 
 
 ' A Persian poet thus expresses this idea : — 
 
 Each has his portion allotted — his own special dole for the 
 
 day: 
 His, not another's, the food, though it may not be laid on his 
 
 tray. 
 But on thine. Then rejoice that with thee the provision for 
 
 him has been stored ; 
 Rendering thanks to thy guest who eats of his own at thy 
 
 board. 
 
 - This story, in so far as it invoh'es merely Abra- 
 ham's having followed Hagar to Al Hi-jaz, offers no 
 difficulty. But when the Patriarch is depicted as 
 reshaping and adapting to a purer cult the Mecca 
 temple, at least these two questions will be asked : 
 Is not the part thus assigned to him mere Koranic 
 scene-painting? Is it so that the Arab Baitu 'llah at 
 so remote an epoch underwent such transformation ? 
 To the former there is here room for only this answer, 
 that among travelling orientalists, Burton, and among 
 sedentary, Freytag, support the conclusion that Mu- 
 hammad drew these inaterials from Arabian sources. 
 The second question is more difficult. It is not in 
 doubt that the " ancient house " when the Prophet 
 first saw it was garnished with idols. The cult was 
 that of "gods of nations," each protecting and dom- 
 inating but its own sept or circle ; with for " God 
 over all," and God for great occasions, Allah. A 
 spiritual conception of this universal Allah supplied 
 the Reformer with his starting-point. The elevation 
 of him to a strictly monotheistic pedestal, with the 
 degradation of all his ancient enemies and rivals, 
 necessarily followed ; and therein was Is-lam. But 
 whether any prophet before Muhammad had ever 
 preached this to the Arabs is a question involving 
 many difficulties. V. in Index I., art. Ha-nif. 
 
 ' Ka-wd-i'd, generally rendered foundations, may 
 equally mean any supporting posts or pillars j from 
 the two side -posts of a door, up to the grandest 
 columns. Therefore the text quoted does not neces- 
 sarily lend a basis to the common Islamic belief 
 connecting the beginnings of the Ka'-ba with Abra- 
 ham. In architecture, as in poetry and history, 
 Semites have a delightful fashion of adding part to 
 part at any time, instead of giving themselves up 
 to regular plans. One of Muhammad's ' Sayings ' is : 
 Man's every work yields him a retiir?i except build- 
 ing. The Prophet's own abode in Medina ^^•as in 
 the form of a row of huts. From time to time, as is 
 well known, he " took," like Abraham, " another wife " ; 
 under the sj'stem proper to the epoch when the world 
 was emptier than now ; and the idea had not grown 
 up of leaving" half the female population of every town 
 to "wither on the virgin thorn," and assume the oc- 
 cupations of the other sex. On all such occasions, 
 instead of building a new wing or story, he would 
 merely ask his neighbour Ha-rith to " take ground " 
 slightly to one flank, and so make room for another 
 humble tenement of unburnt bricks and palm-branches. 
 In a Kuranic passage in which it is explicitly stated 
 that the Mecca Ka'-ba was the first tabernacle or struc- 
 ture of any kind {bait) ever reared for mankind (to 
 worship in) — the standing-place or oratory of Ib-ra- 
 him is mentioned among the notable spots contained 
 in it : v. S. iii. 
 
 * To illustrate the view now generally accepted, 
 that the " Pentateuch," even in its narrative parts, 
 is " a kind of mosaic," in which elements taken from 
 two older writings are interwoven. Prof Wellhausen 
 thus observes : " Ishmael was fourteen years old 
 at the birth of Isaac, and thus would be seventeen 
 
ii6 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Isaac, was the son whom Abraham was commanded to sacrifice. Al Islam is 
 left dependent for the storj^ of Hagar on traditions, in which the main incidents of 
 the description in Gen. xxi. 9 are held to have come down. Sound Muslim com- 
 mentators do not find the spot where Hagar settled anywhere authoritatively 
 indicated ; and accordingly they have conjecturally looked for it in divers places. 
 That preferred by them generally is the palmless and stony tract in the south 
 of Al Hi-jaz, now forming part of the Ha-ram, or Holy territory, on which was 
 afterwards planted the "mother of towns," Mecca. To this clay the well called 
 Zam-sam contained within the Mas-jidu V ha-rdm, or sacred worshipping--^\-d,c^ at 
 Mecca, is supposed to be the identical spring at which Hagar and Is-ma-i'l drank. 
 All this framework so well serves the Arabian genealogies already glanced at, 
 assigning the nation of Ku-raish, or Fihr, of which was Muhammad, to the " seed 
 of Abraham," ^ that the tendency is to deny to it the smallest fragment of sub- 
 stantial foundation. The strong air of Europe perhaps is needed to foster such 
 root-and-branch conclusions. Writing where we now are, it is enough to men- 
 tion that as authentic secular history contains no trace of Ishmael, it cannot 
 possibly confirm the derivation of the Kuraish from him. Nothing is known of 
 the disciplinary processes which first developed the Kuraish ; but their position on 
 the Red Sea in very early times gave them advantages over the nations of the 
 interior. When the curtain rises on them — about 400 a.d. — they held in their 
 grasp, as surely as if it had come down to them from Abraham, the Meccan 
 Bethel ; even at that early period, under the Eastern system of ham ti-jd-ra, ham 
 zi-d-ra, as the Persians have it, or commerce and pilgrimage in one, a place of 
 cosmopolitan congress. About the same time — fifth Christian century — the in- 
 dependent clans of Arabia rose in revolt against the exactions of the kings of 
 Yemen ; just as they would now do if too hard pressed by Constantinople Pashas. 
 Emboldened by success, and led by a native Jonathan called Ku-laib^' or the little 
 
 when, some three years later, Isaac was weaned. 
 But how does this accord with Gen. xxi. 9 sq., 
 where Ishmael appears not as a lad of seventeen 
 but as a child at play [pnjJiDi ver. 9], who is laid 
 on his mother's shoulder (-s'er. 14), and when thrown 
 down by her, in her despair (ver. 15), is quite unable 
 to help himself?" — Vide art. "Pentateuch," Ency. 
 Brit., vol. xviii. p. 507. In any case, Ishmael's 
 separation from his family cannot have been per- 
 manent, seeing that (i) he assisted at Abraham's 
 burial, Gen. xxv. 9; (2) Esau took his daughter to 
 wife at a time when he (Esau) dwelt in Beersheba 
 (xxviii. 9); (3) he (Ishmael) "abode in the presence 
 of" (more correctly, eastward from) "all his breth- 
 ren " (xxv. 18). For a luminous view of these subjects, 
 
 at once historical and Christian, see The Old Testa- 
 ment in the Jewish Cliurch, by Prof W. Robertson 
 Smith, sec. edit., 1892. 
 
 1 V. ante, p. 94 ; et p. 99, in f n. i. 
 
 2 Dim. ol kalb = canis ; Biblical Caleb. The fact of 
 this Arabian Wallace figuring as Ku-laib, with the 
 more important fact of Ba-m't Kalb, or Race of Dog, 
 forming the gentile name of a Najdian nation, may 
 seem to countenance the totem theory. But passing 
 over the circumstance of Europe likewise having its 
 families of Chiens, Cheynes, MacCheynes, &c. ; and 
 rejecting as too improbable Guarmani's explanation 
 that the Ba-nu Kalb have their name from a heredi- 
 taiy hoarseness due to exposure, and productive of 
 barking; if in Arabia, as elsewhere, the clog's own 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 WHERE DID THE ARABS COME FROM? 
 
 117 
 
 dog, after they had thrown off the southern yoke their aims grew wider. During 
 nearly two centuries the words of one of their poets well describes them : — 
 
 No sooner do we carry to a people the quern (of war), than lo, 
 At the first touch of it, they are flour ! 
 
 Like the skin under the mill, all eastern Najd;i like the handful 
 Thrown into the hopper, every mother's son of the Ku-dha-a'. 
 
 — A'mr. 
 
 The times must have been favourable for the development of prowess, both national 
 and individual. Elsewhere the reader may see it chronicled how, in the great con- 
 geries of the Mus-ta'-ri-ba clans, the Kuraish came forward; till at last {c. 570 a.d.) 
 a child was born to them whose destiny it was to throw into deep shadow all 
 that had happened in Arabia before hiin. The Kuraish retain to this day no small 
 portion of the prestige, or moral influence, which Muhammad and his achievements 
 conferred upon them. When, in 1517, fate compelled them to surrender the keys 
 of the Mecca shrine to the Osmanli Sultan, Selim I., the original scheme of Islam- 
 ism must have seemed to them and others obscured beyond retrieval. But it is 
 wonderful how, in Arabia as elsewhere, old ideals can be fitted to new facts. Suc- 
 cessive Sultans have treated Al Hi-jaz as tenderly as if they had been Arabs of the 
 Prophet's lineage. A prince of the Kuraish, elected from the descendants of A'li, 
 acts as a kind of double to the Turkish Wa-li of the " holy territory," like the Delhi 
 emperors to the East India Company's Governor-Generals, but possessed of far 
 more sway and influence. This is The Sha-rIf par excellence ; or "Grand Sherif," 
 as Europeans say, since all the kin of the princely houses which reckon descent 
 from the Prophet bear the title of S/ia-rif, or pre-eminent . On State occasions in 
 Al Hi-jaz, when the Osmanli officials proper appear in gold brocades and ribbons, 
 the Sha-rif in his Arab cloak and head-dress recalls the primitive ideal, according to 
 which it was essential that the " Commander of the Believers," and head of the 
 Arab empire, should belong to the Kuraish. 
 
 Our limits do not permit us to dwell on the important references to Ishmael's 
 twelve sons which are contained in Gen. xxv. 13-17. Slight as those references are, 
 the glimpse which they open is distinctly that of twelve main tribes of Arabs. Nor 
 
 better qualities have led to the adoption of his name 
 by human beings, it is not surprising. The Arabs, 
 it is true, will not eat the dog, and do not like to 
 kill him. But on small enough occasion they will 
 kick and stone him. In their towns they protect 
 him as a kind of natural guard and sca\-enger. 
 Outside, they cultivate and value him for antelope- 
 coursing, without admitting him to intimacy. Grey- 
 hounds obtained from Tigris or Euphrates settle- 
 ments, accustomed to have their food thrown to 
 
 them, and to drink from the river, will not at first 
 come near a dish even when coaxed to do so, owing 
 to the beatings which they have received at home 
 on that account, — not an unnecessary discipline where 
 cooking and eating are perfonned on the ground. 
 
 ' I.e., all eastern Najd had been turned by them 
 into a battle-ground. A skin or cloth is spread under 
 the oriental handmill, to keep the flour from mingling 
 with the sand. 
 
ii8 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. book ii. 
 
 is any materially different view consonant with the facts of history. The iirst-born 
 was Nebaioth, or Nebajoth, patriarch, unquestionably, of a great pastoral people — 
 if not, as seems on the whole probable, of the ancient Nabathsean nation. In 
 the second son, Kedar, with Arabs Kai - dar, the correspondence between the 
 Bible description and Arabian traditions is even more conspicuous. From him, 
 and not from the sons of Ishmael generally, Arab chroniclers, it should be stated, 
 derive the pedigree of the Mus-ta'-ri-ba. How in Canticles the " black tents 
 of Kedar" are used for simile, just as the black tents of the Sham-mar might be 
 used to-day, has already been noticed : that Kedar and Nebaioth formed in 
 Isaiah's time two typical nations of Arabia appears from a well-known passage. 
 If here there be ground of difference, it is not on the essential facts, but on the 
 interpretation of them. Are we to infer that Abraham and Ishmael were Arabs ? 
 Or that Ishmael, entering Arabia as a refugee or immigrant, imparted new blood, 
 as well as new and special characteristics, to all these mighty nations ? For the 
 reasons already stated, it is probable that the veil which hangs over this subject 
 will not soon be lifted. 
 
 It now only remains to take leave of the central question out of which so 
 many branches have grown : are the considerable contrasts which are noticeable 
 between the Yemenite and the Ishmaelitic Arabs consistent with ultimate race unity ; 
 or do they force us towards the supposition that the two populations own separate 
 ethnic origins ? Long ago, not much hesitation was felt on topics of this nature. 
 Modifications superinduced by slight enough causes were made to support race 
 classifications ; just as in another branch of science misunderstood casual varia- 
 tions enormously contributed to the multiplication of so-called species.^ But 
 let us not here pursue similar lines. The pastoral tendency, or habit, in its 
 several phases, forms, as has been seen, the chief basis of divergence between 
 the two great divisions of the Arabian people. And so far as that goes, we 
 see no obstacle to the assumption that both partitions, notwithstanding many 
 fortuitous admixtures, are of one and the same stock. Having before us the 
 substantial fact, already noted, that several of the most clannish and nomadic 
 nations of the Arab peninsula are of those not reckoned to the Mus-ta'-ri-ba, an 
 appeal to argument is unnecessary. Otherwise we might remind the reader how 
 the disposition to "go forth," or wander, runs in Homo sapiens. Ha-fiz the Su-fi, 
 at once the gravest and the gayest of the Persian sages and poets, says in Spring — 
 
 Go fetch a book of poems, and off with thee to the country ! 
 
 Is this a time for lecture-rooms, and the arguments and expositions of the expounder ? 
 
 1 Darwin, in The Origin of Species, informs us I sometimes set down the male bird as of one species, 
 that classifiers, misled by differences of plumage, have I and the female, of another ! 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 WHERE DID THE ARABS COME FROM? 
 
 lie, 
 
 And so in Europe, the sedatest preacher from time to time must have his scamper. 
 Or if siofns Hke these be rerarded less as survivals than as mere demands for 
 relaxation, how many a slip of bookish formal folk • — not dissipated, but only 
 Bohemian — in his rooted dislike of settled ways and artificial people, turns his 
 back on "progress," and sets off to live with kangaroos in the Australian 
 bush. With tendencies of this description latent in the folds of our own civil- 
 isation, how much stronger must the wandering instinct be in peoples whose 
 "environment" compels them to it! We have seen that in vast portions of 
 Arabia man must either be nomadic or disappear entirely. The modifications 
 of character thus produced by necessity and circumstances have become "nature." 
 And a very hard nature is the Bedouin's ; his own desert flints are soft com- 
 pared with it. Some have argued that it is merely the sparseness of his hordes, 
 and the slight temptation offered by him and his to foreigners, which have 
 so long kept him above-ground. This should be allowed for up to a certain 
 point. The multitudinous and ever-changing masses of the Bedouin oppose but 
 the same kind of resistance to kingly giants as Saladin's silken cushion would 
 have done to Coeur de Lion's sword. Their pastoral wealth does not much 
 excite the cupidity of Governments. Nevertheless, their own stubborn temper, 
 with the martial virtues born of the shepherd life, must have had a large share in 
 their preservation. Every Bad-u realises that much of the strength of his untram- 
 melled state depends on isolation. One of his stock sayings is, Adh dhill fi- 1 hadhr, 
 or subjection (is involved) in settling dozvn. Houses and gardens and standing crops 
 form hostages to " our lord the king " in a way that flocks and herds do not ; and 
 that is one reason why he will not have them. During an immensely long past, 
 he has contrived by his methods to retain his nationality and independence ; while 
 all that his building, farming, sedentary congeners have got by their methods has 
 been subjugation following on subjugation, by Abyssinians, Persians, Egyptians, 
 Romans, and Turks. We have seen how for these last hundred years the Con- 
 stantinople Government has been now hammering, now subsidising, the Arabian 
 Bedouin, with the view of making them into new material both for military con- 
 scription and for the revenue officer. We have also seen that this jDolicy has met 
 with some success. The remarkable thing is, that that success has been so 
 limited. For this result, as has just been observed, the hardihood of the Bedouin 
 nature, evincing itself in dogged adherence to the ancient paths, is chiefly account- 
 able. The Osmanli, in the teeth of their professed religion, permit the sale of 
 perhaps the greatest known transmutative force, especially for primitive peoples, 
 arrack.i But not even in I'rak has any Bedouin nation worthy of the name put 
 
 ^ This word is a modern importation into Europe, 
 probably by way of India, from Arabic ; in which 
 a'rak means Juice. Jews and Christians make rd-ki 
 
 (corruption of aV<2/4) ; in Baghdad chiefly from dates; 
 and in Mosul from za-bib, or raisins. 
 
120 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. book ii. 
 
 out the hand to take it. None can say how long this conflict between traditional 
 and modern influences will maintain itself; but, judging from appearances, the 
 ancient Bedouin system may last long enough. So far, speaking as an eyewitness, 
 even after all that has happened in I'rak, the Persian Gulf provinces, and Ja-bal 
 Sham-mar, the "wild-ass" nature is but slightl)^ affected by the strategies and 
 enticements of the tamer. 
 
 " Like commoners of air, 
 We wander out, we know not where," ^ 
 
 now as of yore describes the life of the Mus-ta'-ri-ba. All mankind is gregarious; 
 the feature of peculiar interest which attaches to the Arabian Bedouin is, that while 
 refusing to substitute the bonds of citizenship for the group-bond, they develop 
 within their separate masses a surprising degree of humanity and organisation. 
 
 ^ Burns, in Epistle to Davie. 
 
121 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF THE BEDOUIN AS HORSE-BREEDERS. 
 
 TO make a roll of the Bedouin nations of Arabia would require many writers, 
 and many years of work and travel. These vigorous hordes rival the scud 
 above-head in the sky, in their tendency to change front and form. Within them, it 
 is true, are main or central bodies which possess comparative fixity. But in respect 
 of secondary divisions and subdivisions ; swarmings off and coalescings ; margins, 
 surfaces, and projections, — such is their fluidity, now under internal, and now exter- 
 nal, force or pressure, that a register of them would soon be obsolete. Therefore 
 in this book but slight attempts have been made to arrange them in regular order. 
 
 When Najd was being looked at, its principal nomadic peoples were presented 
 to the reader under the broadest stock-headings ; and before proceeding further, we 
 would do as much, and no more, for their migrated kindred, the Ae-ni-za and the 
 Sham-mar. The main divisions and subdivisions of the former nation may thus be 
 
 tabulated : — 
 
 National Name : AE-NI-ZA. 
 
 I'MA-RAT. 
 
 A'i-yash. 
 
 Alam-dhai-yan. 
 
 Da-la-ma. 
 
 Hib-lan. 
 
 Ih-si-ni. 
 
 Ij-lal. 
 
 Ji-mai-shat. 
 
 Ma-sa-i'b. 
 
 Ma-ta-ri-fa. 
 
 Sa-la-tin. 
 
 Shim-Ian. 
 
 Su-gur. 
 
 Su-wai-li-mat. 
 
 Zib-na. 
 
 SB A'. 
 
 A'ra-fa. 
 
 Di-wam. 
 
 I'ba-dat 
 
 Im-si-ka. 
 
 Ma-sa-ri-ba. 
 
 Ma-wa-hib. 
 
 Mu-wa-i-ja. 
 
 Mu-\vai-ni'. 
 
 Ra-sa-lin. 
 
 Uff-mu-sa. 
 
 FID-AN. 
 
 A'ja-ji-ra. 
 
 Dhin Im-ni'. 
 
 Ghu-bai-yin. 
 
 Ikh-ri-sa. 
 
 Ji-da-a'. 
 
 Sa-ri. 
 
 RU-WA-LA. 
 
 Dugh-man. 
 
 Ga-^'-ji-ba. 
 
 Ga-wa-ji-ba. 
 
 If-ri-ja. 
 
 Na-sai-yir. 
 
 IJ-LAS. 
 
 Al A'bdi '11a. 
 A-sha-ji-a'. 
 
 WALD A'Ll. 
 
 Ih-sa-na. 
 
 2^ote.~l\\ the above headings, the def. article al (save once, where it joins itself to the name) is left to be 
 prefixed by the reader. The Al in Al A'bdi 'Ua is not the article, but Al a synonym of Ba-nfi, Children. 
 
122 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 The above table might be infinitely amplified ; and like all the other contents 
 of these pages, it is subject to correction. The names which are given in it have 
 been received from the Arabs ; ^ and most of them are traceable to roots which are 
 in Arabic dictionaries. This has appeared in the process of transcription. The 
 Roman forms, when they deviate from our adopted system, do so in order that 
 the European reader may the better recognise the names on hearing them from 
 the lips of the Arabs. 
 
 Passing to the Sham-mar, the reader will find in Lady A. Blunt's record 
 of her own and her husband's visit to them- tables of their several branches, 
 and of their allies and tributaries, drawn up, as is stated, by "a committee of 
 Arabs," and revised by Shekh Faris.'^ 
 
 A beginning was made by Doughty, in the face of many difficulties, towards 
 unravelling the skein of the Sham-mar kinship. Working it out in Jabal Sham- 
 mar, he found the drift of intelligent opinion about the Sham-mar to be that, 
 instead of even theoretically or traditionally forming children of one father, they 
 represent a comparatively modern aggregation of peoples of diverse Arab stocks ; 
 drawn together in the first instance by the ties of a common location or locations, a 
 common cause, and common Interests ; and only gradually and imperfectly cemented 
 through intermarriages. His principal informant — " a lettered nomad of the Ae-ni-za 
 Sba' living at Ha-yil " — told him, that Arabs of both the Yemenite and the Ish- 
 maellte divisions are included in the Sham-mar nation ; and that the family tree of 
 Muhammad ibn Ra-shid himself has its roots, through the great clan A'bda, In the 
 Yemenite stock of Kah-tan. " The other fendis (septs) of the Sham-mar," the 
 same authority states,* "are many, aiid not of one descent: Sin-ja-ra ; Tu-man ; 
 As-lam ; [Ad] Du-ghai-rat ; Ghai-tha ; A'mud ; Fad-da-gha ; Tha-bit ; A'-fa-rit ; 
 Iz-mail ; [Al] Him-zan ; Sa-yih ; Ikh-ri-sa; Zo-ba ; Sham-mar To-ga." ^ 
 
 ^ No claim to originality is here intended. Nearly- 
 all the names are in the works of travellers. Ours 
 has merely been to collate, arrange, and, last but not 
 least, transliterate. 
 
 2 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. ii, vol. ii. pp. i88, 1S9. 
 
 3 V. ante, p. 72, et f.n. 
 
 ^ Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 2, vol. ii. p. 41. 
 
 ' The above names have been verified through an 
 old henchman and genealogist of the late Shekh Far- 
 han [v. supra, p. 72). Layard's classification, made 
 in Al Ja-zi-ra, is as follows : — 
 
 " Five sects or subdivisions of the great tribe of 
 Sham-mar, renowned for their braveiy and \'irtues, 
 and supposed to be descended from the same stock, 
 make up together the Ikh-ri-sa branch, of which the 
 hereditary chief is Far-han. To belong to the Ikh-ri- 
 
 sa is an honourable distinction among the Sham-mar. 
 The five septs are the Boraij, the Fad-di-gha, the 
 Alayian, the Ghishm, and the Hathba. Of this last, 
 and of the family of Al JVIuhammad, was the cele- 
 brated Bedouin chief Sfiik. The other clans forming 
 the tribe of Sham-mar are the A'bda, Sa-yih (divided 
 into As Subhi and As-lam), Tha-bit, A'mud, The- 
 ghav-gheh, Ghai-tha ; Dhi-ray-rie, Ghu-fay-la, and 
 Iz-mail. All these tribes are again divided into 
 numerous septs. The Sa-yih have nearly all crossed 
 the Euphrates, owing to a blood-feud with the rest of 
 the Sham-mar, and have united with the Ae-ni-za. 
 The Raf-fi-di, however, a large section of the Ae-ni-za, 
 have left their kindred, and are now incorporated 
 with the Sham-mar." — Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 31, 
 p. 260, f.n. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE BEDOUIN AS HORSE-BREEDERS. 
 
 123 
 
 All the divisions of the Bedouin have not the same rules as horse-breeders. 
 Different tribes have different standards ; and produce different results. This fact 
 is widely known in Arabia, '^o jam-bdz^ with a colt for sale will admit that he 
 is of I'raki breeding, if it be possible to father him on the Sham-mar. And 
 just as " Sham-ma-ri " is thus a better show-name than " Fraki," so is " Ae-ni-za" 
 a better name than " Sham-ma-ri." When a mare from the Ae-ni-za passes 
 among the Sham-mar, her new owner is proud of her because of where she comes 
 from. But when one of the Ae-ni-za takes a Sham-mar mare in foray, it is not 
 so. His inclination is to doubt her; and it is only after the fullest verification 
 of her history and pedigree that he will breed from her. As a matter of pre- 
 caution, this is right ; but when it amounts to a prejudice against Sham-mar-bred 
 stock, it is a mistake. All over the world, and equally in man and beast, good, 
 bad, and indifferent are everywhere present. Especially in Arabia, where merchants 
 and pilgrims, travellers and soldiers, 
 
 " Stained with the variation of each soil " - 
 
 between the Tigris and the Indian Ocean, are constantly concentrating at ports, 
 selling their cattle, and transferring themselves to ships, the circulation of horse- 
 flesh, apart even from Al ghaz-xi and robbery, is as brisk as that of money. Just 
 as the shilling handed to one by the village shopkeeper may not so long ago have 
 left the purse of Royalty, so it is possible that a horse bought even of a Baghdad 
 Jew may be desert-bred and of noble race. This is not the poetical view, but 
 we commend it to our readers as the practical one. Nay, where horses are 
 concerned, the truth goes further. Arabian money is not generally taken to 
 India or Australia : even seeds distribute themselves only within definite circles ; 
 but where is the clime to which man does not carry the animals subject to him ? 
 As we write these lines on the banks of the Tigris, there is before us a Houdan 
 hen hatched in Central India from an ^g'g laid under the shadow of the Him- 
 alaya, by a bird brought all the way from France ! 
 
 " O Httle did my mother ken, 
 The day she cradled me, 
 The lands I was to travel in, 
 Or the death I was to die ! " ^ 
 
 is, if we except the cradling, as applicable to our domestic animals as to ourselves. 
 
 1 Jam-bdz, in the sense of horse-dealer, will often 
 occur in the sequel. It is a Persian word, meaning 
 onewho ^lays luith his life. It is chiefly in Prak that 
 they say jam-baz for horse-dealer. In Najd they use 
 has-sdn, from hi-sdn, a horse. Where horse-dealers 
 from Najd are present, it is better not to use the name 
 
 jam-baz ; for in Arabia proper it has almost the same 
 meaning as liar I 
 
 " King Henry IV., Part I., Act i. sc. i. 
 
 3 Ballad of The Qiieen^s Marie, first published in Sir 
 W. Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. 
 
124 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 The poor little piece of poultry, if stolen one of these nights from her roost, and 
 sold to a steamer's cook, may travel round the world, and be made into grill in 
 the English Channel ! Nevertheless, it is good to notice which tribes of the 
 desert do, and which do not, cling to the old traditions, under which men did 
 not hesitate to ride a mare a month's journey, to mate her with a horse of 
 fame. It might be going too far, to say that a falling away in Arab horse-breeders 
 begins as soon as they issue out of Najd. Much depends on the situation of the 
 new pastures ; the facilities for leading the old life ; and above all, the extent to 
 which the pulsations of the central heart of Arabia are felt. Thus, as already 
 hinted, the Ae-ni-za, though longer separated from Najd than the Sham-mar, 
 are still as noted for strictness of stud-work as the latter are for laxity. We 
 have heard that fifty years ago the Sham-mar, rather than send a mare to an 
 inferior horse, would let her run without a foal. On the Kha-bur and the Ja-gha- 
 jagh, stories linger of children of Sfuk who have died in harness uttering with 
 the latest breath the pedigree of their mares, to make their captors prize them : 
 a trifle savage ; yet infinitely higher than the Trojan champion's supreme concern 
 about the ransom of his own dead body, after Achilles' lance had found the fatal 
 opening. Layard relates how, in 1850, west of Mosul, on chancing to drop on 
 an encampment of the Tai Arabs, he found them much cast down after a beating 
 from the Sham-mar, in which forty of their mares had been captured. The 
 while their Shekh was deep in gloomy consultation with his warriors over their 
 misfortune, an emissary from the victorious Sham-mar, wrapped in his ragged 
 cloak, sat listlessly among them, waiting to be informed of the pedigrees of the 
 mares which he and his people had taken from them. Such a message. Sir 
 Henry Layard continues, " might appear to those ignorant of the customs of the 
 Arabs one of insult and defiance. But he was on a common errand : and although 
 there was blood between the tribes, his person was as sacred as that of an 
 ambassador in any civilised community. Whenever a horse falls into the hands 
 of an Arab, his first thought is how to ascertain its descent." ^ It is not to be 
 
 ^ Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 31, p. 220. The same 
 traveller in another work {Nineveh and its Remains, 
 vol. i. ch. iv.) describes a chestnut mare belonging to 
 the then (1843) Shekh Sfuk, of the Sham-mar, as " one 
 of the most beautiful creatures I ever beheld. As she 
 struggled to free herself froin the spear to which she 
 was tied she showed the lightness and elegance of 
 the gazelle. Her limbs were in perfect symmetry ; her 
 ears long, slender, and transparent ; her nostrils high, 
 dilated, and deep red ; her neck gracefully arched ; 
 and her mane and tail of the texture of silk. We 
 all involuntarily stopped to gaze at her. ' Say Ma. shd 
 Allah,' exclaimed the owner, who seeing, not without 
 
 pride, that I admired her, feared the effect of an evil 
 eye. ' That I will,' answered I, ' and with pleasure, 
 for, O Arab, you possess the jewel of the tribe.' " A 
 few pages further on, it is added : " Sfuk was the 
 owner of a mare of matchless beauty, called, as if the 
 property of the tribe, Sham-ma-ri-ya. Her dam, who 
 died about ten years ago, was the celebrated Ktibleh, 
 whose renown extended from the sources of the Kha- 
 bur to the end of the Arab promontory, and the day of 
 whose death is the epoch from which the Arabs of 
 Mesopotamia now date the events concerning their 
 tribe. Muhammad Amin, Shekh of the Ju-bur, as- 
 sured me that he had seen Sfuk ride clown the wild ass 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE BEDOUIN AS HORSE-BREEDERS. 
 
 125 
 
 imagined that this first principle of desert horse - breeding has died out among 
 the Sham-mar. But while owning to an impression that oyer Arabia as a whole 
 fewer first-class horses now exist than formerly, in regard more particularly to 
 the Bedouin of Al Ja-zi-ra, we cannot doubt that for a considerable time past 
 they have been going downhill as horse-breeders. It is not that they have not 
 still many noble mares. Raiding as they always are on the Ae-ni-za, there is not 
 a mare in northern Arabia that may not any day pass from the Ae-ni-za to them. 
 Perhaps it is that they are turning horse-dealers, and breeding recklessly for 
 the supply of town-purchasers. Hordes of them encamp every year within a 
 day or two of Baghdad and Mosul ; and in many personal inspections of the young 
 stock which they bring with them we have found it of a mixed description. No 
 o'ood comes to nomads from intercourse with towns. Of the two rival hordes of the 
 sons of Sfuk now, as already seen, dividing between them Al Ja-zi-ra pastures, one 
 holds to the country round Baghdad ; and the other to the deserts touched by Mosul. 
 In both alike the ties of blood or kindred find a common centre in one great family 
 of the Sham-mar, that still retaining as its gentile name the very unpoetical one 
 oi Al Jar-bd, or the scabby ; in pious memory of a female ancestor to whom 
 the epithet was applicable, the mother of the first historical Fa-ris. But the general 
 opinion is that the Sham-mar of the Baghdad circuit are far behind their brethren 
 higher up the Tigris as horse-breeders. Some regard this as the natural conse- 
 quence of the late Shekh of the former, Far-han, having fallen away from the desert 
 standards. Especially seeing that, according to the facts above stated, the Sham-mar 
 as a whole consist of a confused mixture of different races, we would not say that 
 this view is beside the question. But only this much is here vouched for. Outside 
 of Najd, the stricter methods of horse-breeding are nowhere so carefully observed 
 as among the Ae-ni-za. Although, as just now mentioned, all the great strains are 
 in the possession of the .Sham-mar, and although many of the champion Arabs 
 of the Indian turf, especially among the big ones, have been bought as colts in 
 Sham-mar camps towards Mosul, yet, if we wanted blood Arabians, and were not 
 over-disposed to trust to the chapter of accidents to bestow them on us, we would 
 go to the Ae-ni-za to look for them. Among the several subdivisions of the 
 Ae-ni-za also, horse-breeding touches diverse levels. Certain tribes, desirous of 
 keeping their mares always in fighting form, have other ways of mounting them- 
 selves than through breeding. For a long time past, in all the Ae-ni-za, the 
 
 of the Sin-jar on her back, and the most marvellous 
 stories _are cm-rent in the desert as to her fleetness and 
 powers of endm'ance. Sfuk esteemed her and her 
 daughter above all the riches of the tribe ; for her he 
 would have forfeited all his wealth, and even A'msha 
 
 [his wife] herself Owing- to the visit of the irregnlar 
 troops, the best horses of the Shekh and his followers 
 wei-e concealed in a secluded ravine at some distance 
 from the tents." 
 
126 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. book ii. 
 
 kindreds of the Sba' and Fid-an bear the bell as horse-breeders, both for quality 
 and numbers. No one who has not seen the mares of these two confederations in 
 one of their vast encampments can adequately picture to himself what a wealth 
 of noble horse-flesh has been given to the Arabian Bedouin. Within Sha-mi-ya, 
 the Sba' and Fid-an are spoken of, collectively, as Al Bishr. Judging from 
 the little that is stated on this point by Doughty,^ Bishr must form in Najd 
 a comprehensive name for all those sections of the Ae-ni-za which still inhabit 
 their native Nu-fiidh and deserts. In connection with these remarks, the reader 
 will bear in mind the caution already given. Let no one fondly think that that 
 must be perfection which comes from this, or that, division of the Bedouin. The 
 true and only talisman is the power of knowing the Simon Pure wherever it is met 
 with. Let us neither be taken in by the bead of glass which happens to be in the 
 diamond-mine, nor on the other hand pass over the 
 
 " gem of purest ray serene " - 
 
 because it has fallen on a rubbish-heap. Given certain outward signs, and points of 
 conformation ; and, provided that we can have the animal, any tribe may claim the 
 pedigree. Not that pedigree is not at the root of everything ; only that, at all events 
 in the strains of Araby, the highest known degree of breeding may be inferred from 
 the outward signs alluded to. 
 
 We do not profess in these pages fully to set before the reader the char- 
 acteristic traits and manners of the Arabian Bedouin ; but, mainly, to afford 
 such glimpses of these nations as will illustrate the history of their horses. To 
 some slight extent this has been done all along the road already travelled. 
 It remains but to describe further the framework in which the Arabian horse is 
 enclosed ; by which the breed is moulded ; and beyond which it cannot develop 
 itself. First of all, then, and speaking, it will be remembered, for the present of 
 horse-breeding in the desert : the Arabian essentially is a war-horse ; a knight 
 and gentleman to the manner born ; a goer out " to meet the armed men." 
 It might naturally be thought that the Bedouin, having no Cabinets or Foreign 
 Ministers, would seldom find themselves set by the ears. But in reality it 
 is not so. Edifying travesties occur within their deserts of the operations which 
 diplomatists prepare for soldiers, in countries equipped with governments and 
 standing armies. When one man's mastery, or a well -woven tribal confedera- 
 tion, too much threatens the balance of power in Najd, engagements worthy of a 
 gazette may happen. In the extremely extended order of the desert warfare, a 
 hundred cavaliers and camel-gunners cover the ground of a thousand ; and the parti- 
 
 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 2, vol. i. p. 331. ' Gray's Elegy. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE BEDOUIN AS HORSE-BREEDERS. 
 
 127 
 
 coloured fluttering camel-trappings, like the plaids and plumes of our Highlanders, 
 magnify size and numbers. According to ancient custom a chosen tent-beauty — 
 her eye and voice more inspiring than the most martial music — seated in her 
 camel litter, moves like a living standard in the front rank.^ On great occasions 
 of this kind, as the reader may imagine, the war-demon is usually well sated. In 
 the old days, when no powder was burnt, the maiden was held sacred ; but in these 
 times of flying bullets her peril is greater. Outside of regular or irregular war, 
 too, the Bad-u is full of practice. What Egypt, Afghan-istan, and India are to 
 European nations, his wells and pastures are to him ; if he have no ambassadors, 
 he is always in his own proper person affronting or being affronted. The ordinary 
 movements of the Bedouin resemble the Hebrew exodus from Egypt : their entire 
 families, women, children, slaves, and cattle, march with them. Perhaps almost as 
 many nomad infants first see the light on the line of march as under the tent's 
 covering. When, during one of these movements, two hostile hordes cross one 
 another's path, a collision is the natural consequence. So far from proving hin- 
 drances, the wives and daughters even of the principal Shekhs dismount at the 
 first shot ; and, their long dresses trailing behind them,^ act the part of Plutarch's 
 heroines. Their tears are not allowed to flow. When a wounded warrior leaves 
 the fray, they receive him with shouts of encouragement ; stop the blood with 
 powdered charcoal ; and send him back again. The Bad-u's regular yawn, or 
 day, meaning day of foray, is a tamer matter. One great feature of his tribal 
 system is, that for every friend to whom it binds him it gives him an enemy, or 
 a friend's enemy, whom he may harry. In one of the Aryan languages, the word 
 for war literally means a desire for coivs. So in Arabic, hm^b, while serving 
 for battle, includes the idea of stripping another of his property. To confound, 
 or even compare, the commonwealths of Arabian Bedouin with brigands, would be 
 to take up a wrong position ; but, sooth to say, if the Bad-u must not be classed 
 with robbers, just as little can he be called an honest fellow ! 
 
 " His morning thought, his midnight dream. 
 His hope throughout the day " ^ 
 
 1 This picturesque female is called in desert speech 
 A'i-fa, used as we use cynosure. 
 
 ' Najd 'contains nations among whom custom re- 
 c|uires women of condition, while freely showing their 
 faces, to "hide their feet under absurdly long dresses 
 (compare Hor. Sat. i. 2). If the long-robed ones were 
 excused from manual labour this would be no hard- 
 ship. But among the Bedouin even Shekhs' wives are 
 kept constantly afoot, not only in minding their 
 children, collecting fuel, pounding corn, and such 
 duties, but also in pitching and striking the tents. 
 
 and making everything into loads for packing. Their 
 trains must, therefore, often vex them : for example, 
 in a tornado, when the whole body of womankind 
 has to rush out and support the tents. According 
 to some, the morality of a nation will always be 
 that of its women ; but be this as it may, a fine phy- 
 sique in a race's manhood demands a fine one in its 
 women : see the universal difference between men 
 sprung from vigorous mothers and those bom and 
 bred in harems. 
 
 ^ Hunting-song well known in India. 
 
128 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 is plunder; but he goes about it jauntily. He no more desires to talce another 
 man's life than to lose his own, for in either case the result would be a perennial 
 blood-feud. Rather than drive his long shivering lance through an enemj', he 
 prefers to knock him off his mare and jump on her back. When he is beaten, 
 he perceives it in a twinkling ; drops his booty or gives up his property ; and 
 thinks only of living to try again. Every time that he sweeps bare a pasture, 
 he gathers more gear in three days than he knows how to do in any honest 
 employment in a lifetime. When instead of shearing he is shorn, he takes it 
 calmly. He never considers his losses irreparable, any more than a gambler does. 
 As to this, he has a saying, suggested by the up-and-down movements of a 
 well-bucket — The foray is a see-saiu ; now tozuards, iioio azuay from, 7is} His 
 religion, such as it is, well accords with all this. The paganism of ancient 
 Arabia had its varieties. The features of it oftenest described in books, as 
 existing just before the Flight in places where civilisation flourished, were special, 
 not generic. Particularly in Mecca, the Kuraishite keepers of the Ka'-ba under- 
 stood the necessity of making their cult and ritual theatrical, if they would draw 
 money into the temple coffers by means of it. But then as now the Bad-u proper 
 lived in a different world ; caring nothing about townsmen's carnivals and theol- 
 ogies ; satisfied with a religion which he could carry about with him anywhere, 
 and feel it no heavier than a peppercorn. To make a man a Muslim, prayer 
 and fasting and almsgiving, with at least a smattering of doctrine, are essential. 
 In respect of these things, visible darkness surrounds the Bedouin. In their 
 blanket cities there is no Mu-adk-dhiu, to sing out the prayer -call above the 
 herdsman's whoop, and the voices of sheep and camels. When it comes to 
 praying, they are ill provided. More than a thousand years after the reception 
 by Al Hi-jaz of Islamism, Burckhardt noted that numerous hordes of the nomadic 
 Arabs possessed no religion, beyond a dim traditional belief in a Supreme Being. 
 Half a century later, Palgrave committed himself in his usual sweeping manner to 
 the statement that the Sha-ra-rat Arabs are sun-worshippers now, as they were 
 before Muhammad uttered his warning that the great day-star rises from among the 
 adherents of Satan} The desert of the Arabs is too vast for any one to say that this 
 or that thing is not contained in it. Our own range has been too limited to furnish 
 full conclusions. Certainly we have met with Bedouin who were unprovided with 
 the simplest forms of prayer. But the most positive evidence would be needed 
 
 ''■ " AI harb si-jAlj yawn la-na : yawn cilai-nd" 
 2 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 7, vol. i. p. 8. Palgrave, 
 by the way, grossly mistranslates Muhammad's ' Say- 
 ing.' He confounds karn = the people, ox following, 
 of the Prophet, with kirn, a horn. The absurdity 
 
 of "the devil's horns" is thus read into it by him. 
 Even if he had no Arabic dictionary, he should have 
 known that Islamism sternly prohibits all such pic- 
 torial representations. 
 
CHAP. III. OF THE BEDOUIN AS HORSE-BREEDERS. 129 
 
 to convince us that any one in Arabia having pretensions to the name of Arab 
 prostrates himself before, or worships, sun, moon, or star.^ How largelj^ in pen- 
 insular Arabia a softening of prehistoric paganism has resulted from that great 
 aftermath, as Ave may call it, of Islamism, Wahabyism, will not have escaped 
 notice. What that has done for Arabia between the seas, Constantinople for- 
 malism has done for Arabia between the rivers. Side by side with the use 
 of firearms and other adjuncts of civilisation, praying and fast - keeping grow 
 apace both among the Ae-ni-za and the Sham- mar. Lady A. Blunt, when 
 staying and journalising among the latter, after writing that "prayer as an 
 outward act of religion is not practised by the pure Bedouin," had to qualify 
 her statement by adding that her Shekhly host Fa-ris " recites his prayers 
 daily."- This subject will reappear in another chapter; when the influence of 
 the Kuranic epoch in further knitting Arab man to Arab horse is being dealt 
 with. Here let us regard only the grit of natural material — older than any 
 recorded patriarch or lawgiver — which underlies and variegates Islamism, as 
 survivals not dissimilar underlie and variegate every other developed religion. 
 The thread of our remarks goes back, in this context, to what was said a 
 little while ago of the Bad-u's plundering habit running in and out of his theol- 
 ogy. The latter, as we shall soon see, may be rudimentary, and as bare of 
 objects as the surfaces which he inhabits ; but at least there is nothing bizarre or 
 repulsive in it. The groundwork of it appears to be an extraordinary sense of 
 the power and i^resence of God — a God unopposed, and unopposable, by any devil 
 — a God to whom are ascribed every turn of fortune, and every event that happens, 
 even when palpably due to human laziness, or worse. Thus in his meteorology 
 Allah is everything. As if the natural, especially pastoral, life brought out 
 under different skies the same religious type, we never hear him talk about the 
 weather without remembering the Lothian shepherd who, on his master's dis- 
 approving of a rainy morning, pointed out how it " slockened the ewes, refreshed 
 the trees, and was God's will." So with him : is it cloudy ? it is in mercy to the 
 calving camels. Is the heat intolerable? that is to bring on the dates. Is the 
 season as irregular as, with us, snow at midsummer ? then it is to teach him 
 that these things do not depend on calendars. \\^hat luck means let them 
 explain who understand it : many of us, from our talk, seem to believe in it 
 
 1 In a paper by Dr Wallin of Finland, being Notes 
 of his Journey through Part of N. Arabia in 1848, in 
 Journal Roy. Geog. Soc., London, vol. xx. 1S51, Part 
 II., is the following important statement : — 
 
 "There are not, as far as I could learn, amongst 
 the nomadic Bedouins, nor in the towns and villages 
 
 in the interior of Arabia, persons professing any other 
 religion than the Islam ; nor did I e\"er hear in those 
 parts of Arabia Avhich I visited mention made of tribes 
 or individuals suspected to be attached in secret to 
 another creed." — P. 311. 
 
 - Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 1 1, vol. ii. p. 217. 
 
 R 
 
I30 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 more than in the Almightj'. The corresponding word with the Bedouin is, na-sib. 
 Next to Allah, no expression is more current among them ; but they mean by it 
 just what our own doctors, from Augustine downward, mean by Providence. Thus 
 may, in part at least, have arisen the impression which exists in many quarters, that 
 God's sovereignty is made by Islamism to degrade men to puppets. We cannot 
 here pursue this subject ; let us merely say, in passing, that there never was a greater 
 error. Of course when one man submits to another for the sake of safety,^ he obeys 
 him ; but there is no fatalism in that. Muhammad, as has been seen, was a master 
 of eloquence, not logic. In the heated pursuit of many themes, the effect of God's 
 absolutism on man's free-will either failed to strike him ; or, like Locke after him, 
 he was content to leave it a riddle. To express at once the finality and the im- 
 measurable elevation of the divine supremacy, he found no words too extreme.^ On 
 the other hand, just as he cared not to expunge certain abrogated "revelations," so, 
 in discoursing of men's actions and destinies, he suffered no thought of apparent 
 inconsistency or contradiction to prevent him from depicting them as free and con- 
 ditional.'^ Arabian fatalism is older than Muhammad ; older even than Abraham : 
 and the view just now presented, namely, that its strongest growth is among the 
 Bedouin, supports this statement.* The Bad-u's fatalism is, however, a purely heathen 
 feature; not a dogma, but an intuition. It is only with this life and its portions 
 that it occupies itself; indeed it is almost certain that apart from Islamite teach- 
 ing the Arabian Bedouin are still as unconscious of future rewards and punish- 
 ments as the Israelites were before the Babylonian captivity. The stories of witch- 
 craft and bedevilment which obtain varying degrees of credence among them 
 came into the desert from towns like Bussorah and Medina. The very ancient 
 Bedouin custom of tying a dead man's mare or camel beside his grave, to die by 
 inches, involved only a belief in man's consisting of two portions ; the body, which 
 dissolves; and something else which is "given up," and continues to live as a ghost. 
 It was not that the camel ^ should go to heaven, or hell, or purgatory ; but that 
 
 ' V. Index,!., art. Is-LAM. 
 
 "- E.g., in S. Ixxxvi. it is said : And truly Allah 
 maketh to err whom He will, and directeth ariglit 
 whom He will. [Comp. Romans ix. i8.] 
 
 2 E.g., in S. xc. : And have We not sho^vn him 
 [man] the two conspicuous ways [of right and Avrong] ; 
 and he attempted not the difficult o?ie. 
 
 And in S. liii. : Hath he [man] not been told 
 that . . . truly no bearer of a heavy load [sinner] 
 shall ca7-ry the burden of another ? And truly there 
 is naught for man save that for which he has striven ; 
 and surely his efforts shall be seen hereafter. Then 
 shall he be requited with the justest recompense j and 
 imto the Lord is the finality. 
 
 And in S. Ixxiv. : Every soul is pledged [v/\th God] 
 for what it shall have wrought. 
 
 •• Fate's arrows never miss their ?nark, is a common- 
 place of Arabic, as of other, languages. 
 
 A'mr said — 
 
 Truly to-day, and to-morrow, and the day after to-morrow, 
 Are deposited in pledge (with Destiny), for the bringing to pass 
 of events of which ye have no knowledge. 
 
 And Zu-hair — 
 
 And whosoever regardeth with fear death's causes will still be 
 reached by them. 
 
 Even were he to climb the sides of the blue vault with a scaling- 
 ladder. 
 
 5 In Arabic ba-li-ya ; q. v. in Index I. So recently 
 
 as 1 78 1, at Treves, a charger was sacrificed outright 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE BEDOUIN AS HORSE-BREEDERS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 she should follow her master to the underground place out of which the Prophet 
 Samuel was evoked against his will by the wise woman of Endor. To keep, 
 however, to the upper world. As came out in another chapter, when the hospit- 
 able ways of the desert were under notice, all the world's good and evil are 
 considered by the Arab nomad to belong to God. When in a fortunate ghas-tt- he 
 drives before him what a Hebrew lyrist — perhaps himself a Bad-u — graphically 
 describes as " hills of jDrey," his idea is that he is but taking what God has 
 given to him. What a very primitive religion his is will appear from this one 
 view of it. Yet, clearly, it is the cream of faiths for populations which answer 
 to the southern traveller's description of the Celts of Scotland: "They live like 
 lairds, and die like loons. Hating to work, and no credit to borrow, they make 
 depredations and rob their neighbours." ■' Whence it conies that, if netting, 
 snaring, driving, night-shooting, have made the English poacher's wily lurcher, 
 raiding and tilting, pursuing, fleeing, turning, twisting, have made the Bedouin 
 courser. In a desert stave already quoted,^ the reader ma}^ have remarked how 
 the horseman praises, not his mare's speed, but her handiness. Of the former 
 quality, much as he will talk of it, he can have but little true idea ; for whatever 
 may have been the case in heathen times,'^ horse-racing is not now practised by 
 the Arabs, at any rate till they go to India. In the Parthian warfare of 
 the desert, two things make a mare excel : the one, endurance ; and the 
 other, the same o-ift of turnino- and twistino; which distinouishes the Arab 
 horse in India with either a running or a charging boar in front of him. By 
 this time, surely, the Bedouin's hatred of a master has become one of our 
 exhausted topics. Even his own Shekhs have more of respect from him 
 than obedience. Very few of them could make a tribesman do what he did not 
 wish to do. If the man. In his secret heart, inclined towards an action. It might 
 please him to say that he had been coaxed or forced to do it ; but when 
 once his feet are firmly planted, the cudgel that will move him Is still to cut. 
 Next to this spirit of independence, as has also been shown, what helps the 
 
 as part of the funeral ceremon)-. The horse does 
 not now follow its rider to Sheol, but only to the 
 cemetery ; whence it is led back to its stable. 
 Among the peaceful and domestic Hindus, not a 
 man's charger, or his " weapons of war " (Ezek. 
 xxxii. 27), but his wife was sent with him ; till the 
 British power stopped the custom. 
 
 1 Quoted by Macaulay, Hist, of E7igland, cli. xiii. 
 
 - V. ante, p. 61. 
 
 ^ Races ranked among the divertissements of the 
 fair held in pre-lslamic times near Mecca. The 
 metaphor in the following ancient Najdian couplet 
 
 opens a glimpse of some such Olympic contest : 
 horses riderless — usualh' ten starters — each horse 
 receiving a special name according to his place 
 at the finish ; the winner, {As^ Sd-bik = the out- 
 stripper ; the second, \Al'\ Mu-sal-li, or tlic one at 
 the other's back, and so on : — 
 
 If ever one day \i,e., in some high enterprise] honour's goal 
 
 have to be made for, 
 Among us thou wilt find the first horse and the second. 
 
 But these performances \vere nothing more than 
 shows. Horse-racing, properly so called, is indige- 
 nous to England. 
 
132 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 nomad breeder is his roaming life. Tlie Black Douglas's preference of the 
 " lark's song to the mouse's squeak " referred only to campaigning ; and if 
 the good Lord James had been with Havelock's column, as the writer was, 
 when it forced its way from the open fields round Lucknow into the Baillie 
 Guard, or citadel, perhaps, for one night at least, the domestic thief's shrill 
 chatter would have sounded like a call to rest and shelter. No such associa- 
 tions surround the Bedouin. In sun and rain and wind, the tent flapping in the 
 desert blast contents them. When their mares are starving, they pass it off 
 with one of their sayings about plenty ivaiting on servihide, and hope for better 
 times. In towns like Ha-yil, Baghdad, Kar-ba-la, Damascus, and Aleppo, the zuoyi 
 hoo-oo, and other whoops, with which the desert herdsman pilots his interminable 
 files of camels, are familiar ; but every Bad-u, in passing through a city, keeps 
 one eye behind him, like Rob Roy in Glasgow, to see that the door of the 
 trap is not closing. The very camels go beside themselves when first the walls 
 of a town rise up before them. The desert colt, with all his courage, requires 
 pressing before he will bow his head to pass through the entrance of a stable. 
 In this full development of the nomadic state we have throughout these pages 
 been recognising perhaps the best possible conditions for the breeding of hardy 
 serviceable horses. What Virgil says of rumour, 
 
 " !Mobilitate viget, viresque acquirit eundo," 
 
 is equally true of young horse-stock. In India, we have seen colts which if kept 
 at home would never have proved worth their corn, take a start and grow, on 
 a six-months' march befalling them. Nay, the same is true of men. When 
 a campaign begins, the generals and senior staff-officers come out of the trans- 
 ports so broken down from sedentary work and over-living that a speedy re- 
 treat to Club-land is predicted for many of them. But the return to natural 
 habits, with restriction more or less to commissariat rations, relieves the old fellows 
 of their gouts and plethoras, renews their youth, and makes them weather-proof. 
 The trait next to be referred to in the Bedouin, as affecting their breeds of horses, 
 is their illiterate state. It is not only that the Arabian nomad cannot read or 
 write or cipher, but that he prides himself on it. He makes it his boast that 
 he takes in his knowledge either from the lips of the experienced or through 
 his five senses ; and that he keeps it after he has got it, not in book-stores, but 
 at his fingers' ends.^ This partly belongs to the phase of civilisation which is 
 inseparable from his nomadic state. His is still the level which our countrymen 
 
 ^ Thus an Arab poet : — 
 Stick you to memory, instead of collecting [l<no\vledge] in 
 
 books ; 
 And truly as regards books, mishaps make away with them : 
 
 The water drowns them ; and the fire burns them ; 
 And the thief [in Eur. read bomwerl walks off with them ; and 
 the mouse makes holes in them. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE BEDOUIN AS HORSE-BREEDERS. 
 
 occupied in the days of " Bell the Cat." Not a great many hundred years before 
 the time of that Bishop Gawain, who 
 
 " Gave rude Scotland Virgil's page," i 
 
 it had occurred in Arabia, when the Kur-an was coming out by little and 
 little, that the Medina Jews, many of whom were bookmen, brought their sacred 
 writings, and pointed out to the uprising Prophet that his stories of the patriarchs 
 differed from those in their possession ; to which Muhammad answered, that though 
 they had the books, they were " as asses laden with them," and " understood 
 not their contents." ^ This was too good a thing to die : one of those long 
 thoughts compressed in short clauses which the Arabs, with all their power of 
 piling words atop of words, so excel in producing. It has become an Eastern 
 proverb. Sa' - di, the Persian, when his day came, beat out the nugget into a 
 quatrain as follows : — 
 
 Nor sage nor critic grows tlie insensate hack 
 
 With load of literature upon his back : 
 
 What wots poor stupid if his loins are sore 
 
 With food for furnaces, or lettered lore ! ^ 
 
 And so the ball has rolled ; and missile after missile for use against book- 
 learning has been manufactured out of it. A Kurdish KocJiar of Sin-jar whose 
 hospitality we lately experienced — a nomadic Dandie Dinmont and patriarch, rich 
 beyond description in flocks of sheep and Angora goats ^ — apropos of his own and all 
 his progeny's innocence of their letters, sarcastically said, "A man rubs a pointed 
 reed on a bit of paper, and in a moment produces that which may prove his 
 ruin;" — words, it struck us, not without their import for England under the modern 
 postal system, with its half-a-dozen deliveries daily ! Another reason for the Arabian 
 Bedouin's hatred of pen-work is his identifying it with townsmen. If the seden- 
 tary Arabs look on their wandering kindred as Londoners did a century ago on 
 Taffies, the Bad-u, we have seen, despises the Ha-dha-ri as the author of the Nodes 
 
 ^ Scott, in Mariiiion. 
 
 - In a recent book of Eastern travel, a copious 
 bibliography of a certain subject is given in a foot- 
 note ; while in the text the talented author affords 
 proof of his not having read the literature which is 
 cited by him 1 
 ^ Similarly Pope : — 
 
 "The bookful blockhead ignorantly read. 
 With loads of learned lumber in his head." 
 
 — Essay on Cyiiicism. 
 A little further on is the line — 
 
 " Most authors steal their works or buy." 
 Query : did Pope steal from Sa'-di ? 
 
 ■* Nothing can surpass the beauty of these creatures 
 in their own proper pastures. "Quality" shines in 
 
 every feature : their silky hair, at least eight inches 
 long, when the morning mists have passed through it, 
 is pearl)' white. Under the happy Eastern system of 
 the ?iod^ foUo%uing the shepherd, one or two Kurds 
 can manoeuvre an ariny of sheep. The duty of the 
 canine helpers — not unlike rough Great St Bernards — 
 is chiefly watch and ward against human and four- 
 footed robbers. The name for the Angora goat is 
 mir-i's, which is explained in Arabic dictionaries as 
 fh(; do^vn beneath the hat?- of a goat. A flock was once 
 obtained from Mosul for export to the Cape of Good 
 Hope ; but the change from the chalky altitudes of 
 Sin-jar to the alluviuin of Babylonia killed most of 
 them. 
 
134 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 did a Cockney. For one thing, he is incHned to question how far one Hving 
 in a town, with all the women going where they list draped from head to foot 
 like sheeted spectres, Eastern manners being what they are, can have any 
 certainty \v\\o his father was. The view which is held by him, in common with 
 Turk-u-ma-ni, Kurd-i, and other tribal populations, of the absurdity of veiling honest 
 women, is infinitely older in the countries bordering on his deserts than that which 
 is now too much identified with Islamism.^ In the story in Genesis (xxxviii.) of 
 Judah's affair with Tamar, Ave read that when Judah saw her seated in a gate- 
 way on a certain festival occasion connected with sheep-shearing, he " thought 
 her to be an harlot," because " she had covered her face." And so to this day 
 think the Bedouin ; who even allow their daughters to look about them and 
 choose, if they can manage it, husbands ; instead of settling them, as is done in 
 several Eastern countries, almost as soon as they can be taken from the mother. 
 Next in the list of indictments brought by the Bedouin against townsmen, is the 
 shame and reproach of living under the heels of Pashas. Then come all their 
 effeminacies, and the infinity of superfluous things which they accumulate, — for the 
 desert standard of comfort mounts but little higher than that of Scott's Highland 
 chief, who, when he saw his son pillowing his head on a snowball, pushed it away 
 with the reproof that he should be above such luxuries ! A last century traveller, 
 in reference to the "garb of old Gaul," jumped to the conclusion that "loose clothes 
 do make loose morals." If it be so, which we question, then the Bedouin are the 
 least strait-laced of mankind. Desert full-dress for man and woman is little better 
 than nakedness : the condition of a whole tribe may resemble that of Christopher 
 Sly, — " no more doublets than backs ; no more stockings than legs " (seldom even 
 that) ; " and no more shoes than feet." The Bad-u who is starting on a journey 
 will load his beast with coffee-making utensils, including perhaps a heavy mortar ; 
 but however handsomely he may, if a Shekh, dress and arm himself, he carries 
 little clothing beyond what is on his person. At all these points there shows 
 itself not merely his natural bareness, but his pride in being what he is — the opposite 
 of a townsman. In so far as Islamism is Arabism, it develops simplicity of manners. 
 
 1 We know from Jerome (4th cent.) and other 
 sources that in very early times Arab townswomen 
 concealed their faces from strangers. Hinduism fore- 
 stalled Islamism in this respect in India ; where, as 
 in Persia, the custom is deeply seated in the national 
 manners. But Al Kur-an goes no further than in the 
 following passage : And say to believing ivomcn that 
 they abridge some%ohat of their look [perhaps, restrain 
 their vieiu from forbidden objects'] : and keep in honour 
 (or inviolate) those regions where the body parts : and 
 display not their charms except such as show natu- 
 
 rally : and draw their coverings over their bosoms. — 
 [S. xxiv.] And so on through numerous details. In 
 towns hke Baghdad respectable women of all creeds, 
 and all classes above the agricultural, when they go 
 out muffle themselves like mummies. Only one ej'e is 
 allowed a peep-hole ; and the power of all the other 
 features comes to be concentrated in it. 
 Sa'-di says — 
 
 Under a covering, many a form charms ; 
 
 Take off the wrapper, and behold a grandmother ! 
 
CHAP. in. 
 
 OF THE BEDOUIN AS HORSE-BREEDERS. 
 
 I3S 
 
 How conspicuously absent was the "pride of life," as represented by pretentious 
 buildings, in the Prophet's own household, has been elsewhere noticed.^ In his 
 highest estate Muhammad was still the Arab ; contented with the fare of the desert ; 
 ready to patch his own cloak, milk his goats, and take bite and sup with the poorest.^ 
 For 1300 years, superfluity and ostentation have been checked in Arabia proper by 
 his single ' Saying ' : Verily he zuho eats or drinks from a vessel of gold or silver, as it 
 zoere gtUps down into Jus belly the fire of Hell. Commentators say that this was 
 uttered lest the poor should be moved by the sight of such things to reproach God 
 with having given more to others than to them. Probably it formed but an expres- 
 sion of the primitive Arab nature. But to continue our reference to the modern 
 Ba-da-wi. i\ vein of rhetoric and poetry distinguishes him ; and he is as noted 
 for the beauty of his diction as for the purity of his blood. The very ancient prac- 
 tice among the Bedouin of reciting verses when they assemble outside the tents in 
 the cool of early night, while it improves the memory, increases the natural flow 
 of language. The minstrel l)'re of Najd has slept, or given out but echoes, these 
 thousand years and more ; but the old poetry is thus kept alive. The first 
 important series of effusions ever committed in prose to the Arabic language was 
 the Kur-an ; many of the most notable passages of which, though not metrical, 
 exhibit the prevalent rhythmic form of that period.-^ When portions of it began 
 to be publicly repeated, like Herodotus' history at the Olympic games, the Bedouin 
 said that they were merely Muhammad's poems."* But even that view of the work 
 
 ' K p. 115 in f.n. 3. 
 
 - The 'Saying' I-d/id du-i'-fiimf as-ta-ji-bu, mean- 
 ing, When ye are invited, then accept, may not be in the 
 standard collections — an unindexed mass — but all ad- 
 mit it ; the more so that the Prophet's own example, 
 and that of his immediate descendants, illustrated it. 
 Whether it apply to invitations recei\'ed from Euro- 
 peans is a different question. In old-fashioned Muslim 
 cities guests are bidden only a day or two before the 
 feast; and an answer is not required. To come is 
 a religious duty ; and they ^^'ho cannot come send 
 apologies. 
 
 ^ The native majesty of the Kur-an appears but 
 slightly, if at all, in translation. But the following 
 rendering of Su-ra-tu 'L Fa-ti-HA, by the late Sir R. 
 Burton, may ser\'e for illustration of how the Arabian 
 preacher, in striking out for himself a prose style, 
 tended, whatever his theme might be, to bring in 
 ■words with the same termination : — 
 
 " /« the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate ! 
 
 Praise be to Allah, Who the worlds has made. 
 
 T/ie Merciful, the Compassionate, 
 
 The King of the day of Fate. 
 
 Thee do we worship ; and of Thee do we ask aid.- 
 
 Guide 7is to the path that is straight — 
 
 The path of those to whom Thy love is great. 
 
 Not those on whom is hate, 
 
 Nor they that deviate. " 
 
 — S. i. 
 * Some would connect this fact with iVIuhammad's 
 proscription of the poets. But considering that 
 painting and statuary equally fell under his ban, 
 perhaps Avhat mo^•ed him was that excess of puri- 
 tanism which so frequently accompanies extreme 
 earnestness ; witness the same view of verse-making 
 as "an art as trifling as it is profane" put into the 
 mouth of Balfour of Burley in Old Mortality. In a 
 ' Saying ' mentioning by name a Najdian lyrist with 
 whose verses Arabia rang at the epoch of the Prophet's 
 birth, in one clause he is called the leader of the poets ; 
 and in the next it is added that he led them to eternal 
 fir-e. Gabriel said. And lue have not taught him 
 [Muhammad] the poetic art : and it is not meet for 
 him. — S. xxxvi. And again : And the poets; they 
 who err do follow them : dost thou not see ? Verily 
 they stray in every valley : and verily they narrate 
 that which they have not done: except those of them 
 ■who believe, do good ivorks, and keep God jniich before 
 them. — S. xxvi. 
 
1^6 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 failed to recommend it to the lovers of Im-ru '1 Kais and A'n-ta-ra. At this day 
 no genuine Bad-u quotes it. We have never seen a Kur-an in the desert; or 
 indeed a scrap of writing of any kind, except in the amulets ^ which are worn 
 as a defence against the evil eye, and in the box of the mulla, or " poor scholar," 
 who is kept to perform marriages, and read, if not answer, demands for tribute, 
 or for the restitution of " lifted " sheep. 
 
 With the above facts before him, the reader will know how to estimate at their 
 proper value the stories which are current regarding written pedigrees of Arab 
 horses. There is absolutely nothing of the kind in existence. The last time 
 that we were in Paris, a fellow-countryman high in office showed us a paper 
 which he had received with a colt from Cairo. He thought that it proved his 
 favourite to have descended from Solomon's mares ; but it was merely a charm which 
 a groom had hung round the animal's neck to keep off the evil eye ! The simple 
 truth is this. In sales made inside a town not the most credulous would attach 
 weight to anything stated, whether orally or in writing, about a horse's pedigree. 
 The seller seldom knows much about it ; and if he did, he would probably prefer 
 to exercise his imagination, supposing that any one was fool enough to ask him. 
 Just as little, though for a different reason, is it usual, when the Bedouin buy from 
 one another, to put on paper what has never been written before, and could be sworn 
 to in one forenoon by hundreds. But when a townsman, or perhaps a European 
 Government, sends an agent to buy horses from the tribes of Najd or Sha-mi-ya, 
 nothing is commoner than to take a voucher as to pedigree with every purchase.- 
 Opposite is a facsimile and translation of such a paper, dabbed with the seals, or 
 thumbs, of a round dozen Shekhs of the Su-wai-li-mat, which we once received 
 with a colt. At the time we thought it worth less than the paper which it 
 covered. The colt mentioned in it proved little better than a ji^a-^?!^ Either the 
 precious document was a town-made forgery, or some muUa had manufactured it 
 in the tents of the Ae-ni-za, to jaromote the pious enterprise of imposing upon 
 a European. An honest agent does not need such trumpery ; scribes and seals 
 
 1 Foi- a In-jdb, literally preve7itive, consisting of 
 hieroglyphics traced on a scrap of paper by any 
 chance visitor having the mysterious art of writing, 
 the Arab nomad will pay money or money's worth ; 
 which is more than he will do for an honest purge, an 
 eye-wash, or a pinch of quinine — though these also, 
 w-hen to be had for nothing, he will take gladly. But 
 on the whole it is surprising how little of the super- 
 natural mixes with Bedouin ignorance. Once it befell 
 us to be grounded for three midsummer days in a 
 little steamer on the Tigris. The tribesmen of the 
 vicinity declared that it was the Jinn who stopped us ; 
 
 but a Bad-u who happened to be passing rebuked them 
 for believing" such nonsense. 
 
 - A Persian, or perhaps Turk-u-man, name for the 
 large coarse galloways used in mountainous parts. 
 Like the Indian fat-tu, the ya-bu is mostly of nonde- 
 script race. Yet there are b?-eeds of yd-biis too. One 
 breed in particular, called from its curly hair the 
 Jiabashi or African, which is common in the Candahar 
 province, though seldom above 14 hands, comes near- 
 est in breadth to the European cart - horse of any 
 Eastern variety. One does not sttyd-bih in Arabia, 
 e.xcept in towns and on lines of communication. 
 
FACSIMILE OF A "HUJ-JA" 
 
 (OR ARAB CERTIFICATE OF A HORSE). 
 
 rt^-^ .^l^-^&rr ^^-^.^^rr-' ^^U^..^- -^)rK^^ 
 
 «&-v 
 
 Translation. 
 This is to record : 
 
 We whose signatures and seals are below, Shekhs of the Su-wai li-mat, a branch of the Ae-niza, do 
 testify, by Allah, and by Muhammad son of Abdu '11a, truly, without compulsion, in respect to the horse 
 of Ma'-a-shi '1 Hash-sha-i of the Su-wai-li-mat : and he a bay, with a mark like the new moon on his 
 forehead ; by our stars and fortune, his dam was [of the strain] Wad-na Khir-san ; and his sire, Ku-hai-lan 
 Abtt ju-nilb — the well-known strain. He is a horse used as a sire. It is also known to us that his price 
 has stood Khidhr, the Agel, in 550 gM-z'ts [about ;^88 sterling]. According to our knowledge and 
 information we have written this certificate. 
 
CHAr. III. OF THE BEDOUIN AS HORSE-BREEDERS. 137 
 
 and oaths by Allah are never wanting to bolster up fraud and falsehood. T/ie 
 7mfaithful one is fearful^ {e.g., always casting about for papers to support his 
 falsehoods), says an Arab proverb. 
 
 Room must now be made for a remark or two on what is, after all, the cardinal 
 feature in the Bedouin's practice of horse-breeding — the source at once of his 
 strength and weakness — his unbounded faith in purity of blood. A large class of 
 our countrymen, it is said, never see a sunny day without wanting to go out and 
 shoot something. And the sight of a fine horse or mare seems naturally to 
 suggest to many other good people the idea of crossing it with one of a different 
 variety. Once in India we saw an Arab brought up to be admired at a regimental 
 mess ; when, because of his having won races in company of his own class, the 
 general vote was that he ought to be sent to England and put to thoroughbred mares. 
 As is nearly always the case with Arabs in India, no one knew how he was bred ; 
 and in point of quality he looked about fit to carry the luggage of one of the fathers 
 of the English stud-book. If the portraits of Blair Athol and Alice Hawthorn on 
 the wall behind us had come down with a run at the mention of such a commoner 
 being admitted into their truly patrician family, there would have been little 
 wonder. It is not disputed that there is a time to cross ; but there is also a time 
 to cry enough. A " happy nick " may greatly help to originate a breed ; but it is 
 pure breeding, aided by the selection of the fittest, that brings it to full flower. On 
 the one hand, we know how successfully the racing greyhound was improved 
 through a bull-dog cross, at the end of last century, by Lord Orford. On the 
 other, the results are before us of Booth and Bakewell's triumphs with short- 
 horn cattle and Leicester sheep respectively, while strictly following the system 
 of close or "in" breeding. But with reference to "crossing," we must remem- 
 ber what a high degree of education, study, and experience is here essential. 
 Darwin says — and who more competent to give an opinion ? — that not one man 
 in a thousand has accuracy of eye and judgment sufficient to become an eminent 
 breeder ; and that the extent of natural capacity, with years of practice added, 
 which it takes to make even a skilful pigeon-fancier is such as few realise. This 
 being so, what better line could the Bad-u have followed than that of holding 
 on to a good thing when he had it — that is, on obtaining strains of horses equal 
 to every service, keeping the blood as pure as possible ? And thus, if he had 
 been a philosopher, he could not better have avoided the rock which proves 
 so fatal, of trying suddenly to improve a breed without considering whether 
 the climate will favour the altered produce, and the quantity and quality of 
 the available food will prove suitable and sufficient for it. So far nothing could 
 
 ^ "^/ kha-in klui-if '' — Scottice, li is the ill doers aj-e ill dreaders. 
 
 S 
 
138 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 be better. The fly in the pot of honey is — such a fanatic about blood is every 
 desert breeder, that, in pairing his horses, he does not pay sufficient attention to 
 form. Ask an Ae-ni-za Shelch whether one of liis colts or fillies is a-sil, and if he 
 would maintain it, he will say. By Allah, yoii may breed from it in a dark night I 
 Practically, this means — never mind whether the individual is shaped like a race- 
 horse, a donkey, or a buffalo, so sovereign is the blood, that you may safely use it 
 without bestowinof a thouo^ht on anv external feature ! The mischievous effect of 
 this purblindness on the horse-stock of Arabia — how, in consequence of it, faults of 
 conformation spread like weeds in a neglected garden — will often appear in the 
 sequel. But, on the whole, the Bedouin should be thankful that such lights as they 
 possess have dawned on them. It was only right for Englishmen, with colleges 
 of learned veterinarians and book -writers at their back, when the " wisest fool 
 in Christendom " was pressing his Markham Arabian ^ on them, to ponder well 
 the lines of a clerical satirist of the period, — 
 
 " Dost thou prize 
 Thy brute beasts' worth by their dams' qualities ? 
 Say'st thou thy colt shall prove a swift-paced steed 
 Only because a jennet did him breed ? 
 Or say'st thou this same horse shall win the prize 
 Because his dam was swiftest Trenchefice ? " - 
 
 But it would fare ill with Najdian horse - breeders if, in their present primitive 
 condition, they were to throw away or qualify their traditional faith in blood. 
 
 An important topic still remains : the desert Arab's horsemanship. 
 
 The horseman makes the horse has several times been stated as one of 
 the central ideas in our volume. How certain characteristic qualities of the 
 Arabian breed come to it by a kind of natural percolation from its human culti- 
 vators is gradually being illustrated. Meanwhile, Bedouin equitation will repay 
 
 ^ The purchase by James I. in 1616 for ^154 from 
 a merchant named Markham of an Arabian stallion 
 belonged to the shrewder side of his character. The 
 foreign animal, it so befell, tended more to discredit 
 than bring into favour the Arab cross. The Admiral 
 Rous of the period, the Duke of Newcastle, did his 
 utmost to suppress him, describing him as "a little 
 bony horse of ordinary shape." Though his importers 
 and others may have reckoned him an Arab, it by no 
 means follows that he was one. The same uncertainty 
 equally belonged, as has often been pointed out, to 
 two of his three principal successors, the Byerly Turk, 
 the Darley Arabian, and the Godolphin Barb, who 
 were destined a century later to divide among them 
 the paternity of all the thoroughbreds of England, 
 Europe, Australia, the Cape Settlements, and America. 
 
 The Darley Arabian, as we have elsewhere stated 
 and intend further to illustrate, was a genuine 
 one. But of the other two — one was merely a charger 
 brought from Turkey by one of " Dutch William's " 
 captains ; while of the early history of The Barb, all 
 that is current is, the story of his having left the shafts 
 of a cart in Paris, in or about 1729, to become the 
 sire of Lath ; and through him of an illustrious 
 progeny, culminating in our time in the Melbourne 
 family. 
 
 - These lines, quoted during two centuries in books 
 on racing, were first seen in Bishop Hall's imitation 
 of the passage in Juvenal's Sth satire, in ■v\'hich the 
 high-bred horse without spirit or courage is used to 
 illustrate that performance, and not pedigree, makes 
 the man. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE BEDOUIN AS HORSE-BREEDERS. 
 
 139 
 
 separate notice. First, it should be remembered how slight and lithesome these 
 riders are. Heavy marching order is unknown among them ; the infantry of match- 
 lockmen, with its jingling belts and ammunition, disposes itself, as has been seen, 
 on camels : in a troop of desert prickers, but few horsemen would draw nine stone. 
 The importance of this was impressed on us early in life, while hog-hunting with 
 certain native officers of the Nizam's Cavalry in India. Not only were our com- 
 panions light weights and fine horsemen, but they were rich enough to mount 
 themselves, regardless of price, on Arabs powerful enough to carry two of them. 
 In pressing the grim grey boar through one most break-neck Deccan gully in par- 
 ticular, what saved them was, that their horses galloped with perfect freedom. How- 
 ever much action may primarily be dependent on conformation, the paces of a 
 horse accustomed to carry a heavy man soon lose their natural sprightliness. 
 
 There is very little of science in the desert horsemanship. The riding-school 
 theory of suppling a colt's neck and haunches, and so uniting his powers in the 
 middle of his body as to lighten the two extremities, and put them properly at the 
 disposal of the rider, would sound mere town talk to the Bad-u. It has never struck 
 him that his horse's natural mode of progression requires to be improved. Carried 
 he is, but he can scarcely be said to ride — at any rate, at the slower paces. When 
 anything is on hand, he makes sail with all his canvas out in this fashion — 
 
 ,!*,»ii!si. 
 
 ■; C- 
 
 A L.\ Bedouin. 
 
 Loose as his seat seems, he can hold with his leg-grip a reserve spear between his 
 thigh and the saddle. When his mood is passive a walk contents him — his mare 
 all of a sprawl under him, blundering along anyhow, and looking from side to 
 side ; with the head and neck perfectly free and unsupported. Once an Osmanli 
 general, after an expedition against the Sham-mar, reported with military brevity 
 that the " men had no religion ; the women no drawers ; and the horses no 
 bridles." Not to Sfo back to religion, the other two counts are still true. 
 
I40 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Gladly as the Bad-u will pull on a pair of short breeches before mounting for 
 a serious excursion, on other occasions he holds it but a town fashion to part 
 the two shanks by stuffing them into separate bags or cases. A girdle of leather 
 thongs, called sabta, is laced round the naked loins, to support the back : and over 
 this falls the only garment, the ka-mts, or tkattb, of calico — a decent smock : the 
 sleeves long and wide, with bird's-wing-like endings handy for many uses ; the body 
 reaching to the heels. This is not the drapery in which " to turn and wind a fiery 
 Peo-asus." The inconvenience of it, and the absence of stirrups, may have some- 
 thing to do with the Bad-u's preference of the arm-chair pace of cantering to the 
 rougher motion of trotting. 
 
 Next let us speak of the Bedouin saddlery. The following illustration exhibits 
 the characteristic bridle : 
 
 Riding-Halter, or rash-ma .■ including (i) rash-ma proper, or (iron) nose chain; (2) f-dhdr, or head stall ; 
 
 and (3) i-a-san, the rope or rein. 
 
 The above is simplicity at its highest. When the coast is clear, it is considered 
 sufficient ; but the Bad-u carries a rusty iron at his saddle-bow, and slips it into his 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE BEDOUIN AS HORSE-BREEDERS. 
 
 141 
 
 mare's mouth on occasions resemblinof those which suo-o-est to us the tiehtenlno- 
 of the girths and the shortening of the stirrups. 
 
 The saddle, of which also we here introduce a sketch, well suits the bridle : 
 
 Bedouin Pad {ma' -ra-ka, also inat-ra-ha). 
 
 How, with the above light tackle, the Bad-u will take his mare at speed any- 
 where, surprises those who are accustomed only to corn-fed horses. The secret 
 is, that she has been habituated to it from foal-hood ; when, perhaps, from cold 
 and hunger, her skin was as fast on her as the bark on a tree, and her only 
 thought was to submit. This Arab riding-halter is useful anywhere. The traveller 
 can feed or water his horse without disturbing it. The rope or rein, usually of 
 camel's hair, equally serves for leading with, and for hobbling during the mid-day 
 heat, either Australian or Bedouin fashion. It can be worn under a plain 
 English Pelham or snaffle. We have ridden thousands of miles with it, and 
 found it most convenient.^ The Bedouin saddle is not so eood. It is a mere 
 
 ^ While going to press, we have been favoured 
 with the perusal of a series of journals just printed, 
 but not published, by General Lord Mark Kerr, 
 G.C.B. No one who has seen Lord IVIark when an 
 officer of the famous old 13th ride his own horse, or 
 a friend's, over obstacles, needs to be informed that 
 he was an adept in the saddle. During the Delhi 
 Manoeuvres of 1871 he made this entry : "He [Maha- 
 rajah of Vizianagram] is astonished at my riding. 
 I had the reins on one side of my horse's neck only, 
 as I often do, and find it quite as easy as the usual 
 way, and useful, as I often get off and walk, and 
 thus have the reins easily in my hand to lead my 
 horse." It further appears in the same record that 
 another Bedouin practice, " riding Avithout stirrups," 
 was natural to Lord Mark ; and that when a 
 "fuss" was raised about his doing so, in the Crimea, 
 by martinet generals and brigadiers, the only con- 
 cession which he would make to the military pro- 
 prieties was that he "henceforth put the stirrups on to 
 
 the saddle, and crossed them over the pommel " ! 
 
 Most of us lose a great deal as horsemen through 
 over-dependence on stirrups. Once, long ago, at Hy- 
 derabad in the Deccan, an Indian who was riding in 
 a flat race for an English patron found, about a mile 
 from home, that his girth had given way. Instead of 
 letting the saddle fall, and coming in short of weight, 
 he brought it in with him in his hand, gallantly 
 winning the race. As for bits and bitting, although 
 steeplechases have been won bridleless, the necessity 
 for control and guidance of this kind in the higher 
 parts of horsemanship is evident. More than a hun- 
 dred varieties of bits, we believe, could be enumer- 
 ated. All but a few of them ought to be sent out 
 of the country for sale to savages. When a horse 
 in daily work is doing no more than carrying one, 
 or as soldiers say, marchings it is absurd to overload 
 his head with saddlery, every strap of which is an 
 extra trouble both to him and his rider ; and to puzzle 
 him with ciu'b bits and curb chains. A snaffle is 
 
142 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 make-up of felt or sacking stuffed with wool or cotton; for wood, leather, and 
 iron are scarce in the desert. At certain seasons it is never off the mare's 
 back night or day, except when she is swimming a river. On such occasions, 
 her rider strips himself to the skin — as just seen, an easy matter; ties all 
 his gear atop his saddle with the su-iimt or loin-strings ; puts the saddle upon 
 his head ; and, rein in hand, descends into the current. Such are the only 
 times when we have ever seen a lot of mares unsaddled ; and then most of 
 their backs were sore — not, indeed, with the terrible galls which wood or iron 
 causes, but with skin wounds which will heal under the saddle.^ Instead of 
 minding these, the warlike brotherhood take the Spartan view of them : a desert 
 poet, wishing to describe a man of ideal fortitude, likens him to a camel tmder 
 whose saddle many a wotmd has healed. A Bedouin who, from having no mare, 
 is forced to ride a stallion, hammers him with the butt of his lance when 
 he makes a noise ; or perhaps carries hanging from his wrist a thing like a 
 dog -whip for his benefit. In his churlish thinking, the female is the better, 
 and more patient, in all animals save Man ; his gentle mare needs no other 
 admonition than a touch on the side of the neck with the short stick called 
 mih-jan (also viish-db) which is never out of the nomad's hand. Considering how 
 vigorously, in times of warfare, the Bedouin from his first beginnings has plied 
 the naked heel against his mare's sides, what a fact it would have been for Science 
 if a spur like a cock's had now belonged to his anatomy ! but as such is not the 
 case, he is driven to a device of this kind : 
 
 Bedouin Spur [mih-maz). 
 
 all that is wanted for such simple riding. As 
 stated in the text, we have usually found a horse that 
 is accustomed to the Arab halter march better, at all 
 paces, when nothing is put in his mouth to exclude 
 the fresh air, and keep him in a state of fret and 
 irritation. If an Arab, he is pretty sure to trip and 
 blunder, but he will not fall. 
 
 ' The Arabic word for the bruising or galling of a 
 beast's back is daus — primary meaning, trampling, 
 esp. corn to thrash it. And the same word was once 
 
 -e.g., " douse the glim ' 
 
 current in the British Islands- 
 = put out the lig/it, in chap. iii. of Guy Alanneriftg. 
 And in " Blind Harry's " History of Sir William 
 Wallace : — 
 
 " Two supple fellows there that pressed him most, 
 He doused their doublets rarely to their cost." 
 
 Douse or douche; drub (Semitic drb) ; and many 
 other words of the same pithy class, may have been 
 carried our way by the gipsies. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE BEDOUIN AS HORSE-BREEDERS. 
 
 143 
 
 Elsewhere we let an Abrabian poet describe a thunderstorm ; ^ and perhaps 
 if we here introduce another piece of the same minstrelsy, and afterwards add 
 a few explanations, this view of desert horsemanship will be well concluded : — 
 
 And often I am out betimes ; when the birds are in their nests ; on a sleek hunter ; a shackler of wild 
 
 animals : 
 One to him are charge and flight ; advance ; retreat : big as a mass of rock which the torrent has torn 
 
 from a height : 
 A dark bay ; the saddle - slips off the middle of his back, as slides the smooth stone in running water : 
 A great bounder, from high condition;^ whose snorting, when he is excited, resembles in vehemence the 
 
 boiling over of a cauldron : 
 Full of running w-hen the gallopers, dead-beat, are pawing the dust in the track of his hoof-marks : 
 Unseating the light stripling from his back; and tossing off the cloak of the hard-riding heavy-weight : 
 Swift as the boy's plaything which the incessant movement of his hands sends flying round and round 
 
 by the string attached to it : 
 Ribbed up like the antelope; with thighs like the ostrich's; lobbing along like the wolf; galloping like 
 
 the fox-cub : 
 Great of barrel ; and when you look at him from behind, he has closed his channel with a tail falling 
 
 nearly to the ground, and inclined to neither side : ^ 
 His back as he stands in his place is like the stone on which perfumes are bruised for a bride, or the slab 
 
 on which they pound colocynth : 
 The blood on his neck of the leaders of the herd is like the juice of the Jim-7ia on the trimmed hair of the 
 
 greybeard.^ 
 And there came in sight a herd, containing heifers, which were like the maidens in trailing garments 
 
 that circle round the sacred stones in the temple : " 
 And they turned towards us rumps like the white shells set here and there in the necklace of a boy who 
 
 has both paternal and maternal uncles : " 
 And he laid us alongside of the foremost ; and behind him those that had fallen to the rear, in a lot not 
 
 broken up : 
 And he passed, in his charge, from bull to heifer; running them down, without sweating or turning 
 
 a hair : 
 
 ^ P. 49, ante. 
 
 2 Word used is libd, q. v. in Index I. 
 
 2 In the text dhabl ; of a tree, the drying up ; of a 
 horse, the bei7ig drawn fine. It A\as impossible for 
 the Arabs to follow the chase mounted without dis- 
 covering the importance of cojidition: from their 
 words for which it is to be concluded that the plan 
 of galloping in sweaters and afterwards scraping, now 
 fallen out of date in England, would ha\-e mightily 
 pleased them, if there had been any one to show it to 
 them. The old heroes and their riding cattle, whether 
 camels or horses, are always described in verse as 
 being lean to meagreness. 
 
 ■• To this day good judges of Arabs say that one 
 which carries his tail askew in galloping is but mid- 
 dling. 
 
 " Naturally this suggests that the chase must have 
 been like that of the hog in India, in which the hunters 
 ply the spear or sabre at close quarters. But a native 
 authority says that it is an allusion to an old Arab cus- 
 
 tom of marking the courser's throat with the blood of 
 the game which has been run down by him. If so, 
 bows and arrows may have been used. 
 
 ^ I.e.., the Ka'-ba. Whether the circumambulating 
 virgins of the old Mecca cult were devotees of the 
 Hindu type — daughters of song and pleasure — or 
 ritualistic processionists, like those of the Greeks, or 
 mere successions of worshippers, is uncertain. A 
 special costume, at least, seems identified with them 
 — white robes of extraordinary length. To this day 
 the pilgrim, when he approaches Mecca, is bound to 
 exchange the garb in which his sins have been com- 
 mitted for one or more clean cotton sheets through 
 which no needle has passed. A very ancient people 
 sur\dves in Babylonia {v. Index I., art. Sa-ba, f.n.), 
 whose priests, or i\Iagi, wear a white stole, and white 
 turban, while engaged in sacred offices. 
 
 '' I.e., who has plenty of relations to give him 
 presents. 
 
144 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 And the bustling cooks spent the night in boihng, broiUng, roasting, stewing : 
 
 And we broke up ; and one's gLmce went near failing by the side of him, when the e}'e looked him all 
 
 over, up and down : 
 And he stood all night with his saddle ^ on him, and his bridle ; and he stood all night in front of me, not 
 
 turned out. 
 
 — Im-ru 'l Kais. 
 
 Three things, according to the Eastern saying, are from God : a good wife, a 
 good horse, and a good sword. In the horse of the foregoing verses, one of 
 the three is exhibited. Horses in poems do not always resemble those in real life, 
 any more than those in advertisements do. If any sanguine reader were to search 
 Arabia for a phcenix answering to Im-ru '1 Kais' description, he would probably 
 discover that such is rarely bestowed on any one in this life ; while he who has 
 one does not sell him. But the passage cited shows that nearly 1400 years ago, 
 or about the time when the Romans were leaving the "abject Britons," as Hume 
 calls them, to manage their own affairs, the Najdian sportsman, if he did not 
 find him every day, had some experience of the stamp of horse which he should 
 look for : a strong craving galloper ; fast enough to " put shackles on " — that is, 
 run into — the wild creatures of the desert ; as big under one as a house ; with a 
 great back and loin, deep ribs, the propulsion from behind of a catapult, and withal 
 perfectly in hand. The praising of a horse because of his saddle slipping off him 
 sounds strange in European ears. But the meaning merely is, that his back was 
 of the "double spine" pattern which Virgil also held up to admiration." The 
 primitive Arab saddle, from its softness and free and easy girthing, does not sit 
 firm. The rider's legs help to keep it in its place ; and one reason of the Bad-u's 
 not using stirrups is that he may freely roll off, — perhaps with his arms round his 
 mare's neck — and be on again in a moment. The first time that an Arab horse 
 has an English saddle properly girthed on him, he is apt to lie down with colic 
 after going a mile or two. It is not the hind-legs alone that form the "propellers." 
 Thighs '^ like an ostrich's, or as we say a game-cock's, running into great broad 
 
 ^ The word for saddle here is, not libd., but sarj., 
 q. V. in Index I. 
 
 - "At duplex agitur per lumbos spina." 
 
 — Georg., lib. iii., line 87. 
 A backbone along either side of which, from the ful- 
 ness of the dorsal muscles, two ridges run, having a 
 deep furrow between them, called by the Arabs a 
 ta-ri-ka, or track. 
 
 ^ Anatomical names and those used by horsemen do 
 not in every case coincide. The horse's thigh-bone is 
 concealed by the muscles of the hind-cjuarters ; as his 
 humerus, or true arm, is by tliose of the chest. His 
 "thigh" is our "calf": in certain feathered bipeds, 
 " drum-stick." His hock is the human ankle — having 
 the Achilles tendon running into the point of it (ps 
 calcis) or " heel " — Man being the only animal whose 
 
 heel rests on the ground. Similarly, of course, his knee 
 [carpus'), or part that gets "broken" when he comes 
 down, answers to the human wrist. Above the knee 
 is the long forearm (radius and scarcely trace- 
 able ulna) ; below the knee, the shank or cannon, 
 representing the middle bone of the five meta- 
 carpals which support our palm. In the pastern, 
 coronary, and coffin bones of the veterinarian, the 
 joints of our middle finger are present. If we Avould 
 inquire about our other digits, we must go to the 
 anatomist. A glance at the hoof shows it to be 
 simply a thickened and marvellously adapted nail. 
 The Arab horseman does not apply to all fours his 
 word for legs. Only the parts between the stifle and 
 the ground receive this name from him ; what we 
 call the fore-legs are with him the hands or arms. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE BEDOUIN AS HORSE-BREEDERS. 
 
 1.45 
 
 hocks, are not so common that we can afford to pass them over. But the true- 
 made weight-carrying runner always has a good middle-piece. Some think that the 
 biceps muscles of the rowers send the racing boat through the water ; but the 
 trainer tells us that without the right sort of back, strength of arm is wasted. The 
 name A I inaj-ina given by Arab horsemen to the place where the loins run into 
 the hind-quarters contains the same idea as our word coupling or couples. 
 
 The identification, scientifically, of the several wild animals which are mentioned 
 in the old Arabian poems requires more knowledge of zoology than we possess. 
 But evidently, the game afoot in Im-ru '1 Kais' description was a troop of those ox- 
 like antelopes, connecting links between the antelope and the ox families, of which 
 the gnus of S. Africa, and the nyl ghau, or blue ox, of India are representatives.^ 
 In the verses themselves the object of the chase is merely called a herd ; and the 
 word which we have rendered heifers is applied by the Arabs to the females of 
 numerous ruminants, both wild and tame ; and figuratively even to women. Every 
 shade and detail of meaning would be seized by the audience in a moment. There 
 is nothing to show that hawks or hounds took part in the run ; but in a contem- 
 porary poem — in which, by the way, the object of the chase receives no other name 
 than the nntamcd one — there is a picture of how the hunters ^ slipped a couple of 
 hounds with drop-ears and spare bodies. One of these was called Ka-sib, or 
 Caterer ; and the other Su-kham, or Soot. Just where the bard abruptly changes 
 his theme, to begin a rhapsody about his camel, both dogs have been struck dead by 
 the infuriated animal's spear-like horns. 
 
 Such is the Bedouin horseman ; and such are some of the ways of the Arabian 
 desert to which we owe the Arabian horse. ■ 
 
 ' Such were the male and female wa-dM-ha, the 
 latter " resembling a little cow," which Doughty saw 
 in Amir Muhammad's garden at Ha-yil (vol. i. p. 592). 
 He calls the wa-dht-ha, Antilope Beatrix j and sug- 
 gests (same vol., p. 328) that it may be the rim of the 
 Hebrew Scriptures, which is rendered in the Greek 
 version unicorn. Of course it was a mistake to ascribe 
 a single horn to a double forehead ; and in Deut. 
 xxxiii. 17, the horns, not horn, of the rim are spoken 
 of Nevertheless the identification of the wa-dhi-ha 
 with the rtfii \s doubtful. Mr C. J. Lyall, we notice, 
 accounts the " wild kine " of early Arabian poetry^ 
 Antilope defassa; and the "deer" of the same litera- 
 ture, Antilope leucoryx (Transl. of Ancient Arab. 
 Poetry, p. 117), A wild animal is mentioned seven 
 times under the naine of rim in the Biblical books. 
 But in Arabic and Assyrian literature also there is 
 a rim; and unless the Hebrew usage of the name 
 differed from the Arabic, it is probable that the rim 
 of the Bible and the rim of Najd are identical. 
 Many in I'r^k apply the names rim, gha-zal, and 
 dhab-y loosely to several different kinds of antelope ; 
 
 but both in speech and literature we find the cervine 
 antelopes, of which, according to this \'iew, is the 7'im, 
 well distinguished from the bovine antelopes, of which 
 is the lua-dhi-ha, or buh-fha. Zu-hair says : — 
 
 There sweep by, troop after troop, the large-eyed ones, and 
 
 the antelopes ; 
 And their younglings rise up from every couching-place : 
 
 in which the large-eyed ones — I'n {een) — may be the 
 wild kine J while the name in the second clause is 
 d-rdm, pi. of rim. Similarly La-bid (600 A.D.) in two 
 succeeding lines seems first to mention the cervine, 
 and then the bovine, antelope : 
 
 (In a certain favourite spot) — 
 
 The tops of the wild-rocket uprise. In the two sides of the 
 valley the antelopes [dhab-y'] and ostriches breed: 
 
 And the large-eyed ones that have just brought forth lie in- 
 tent on their young — their young collecting in herds on 
 the plain. 
 
 - The word rendered hunters has a root suggestive 
 of archery. The hearers would know whether the 
 hunters were archers or spcar-throwers, mounted or 
 on foot. 
 
146 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HORSE-BREEDING AMONG THE SETTLED ARABS. 
 
 HERE again hard-and-fast lines are to be avoided. In many localities the 
 townsman breeds from every horse or mare to which it has pleased 
 any one to attach a pedigree. In towns like Ha-yil, coloured through and 
 through with Bedouin manners, or Der, a kind of house-of-call, as seen above, 
 for the northern Ae-ni-za, the beliefs and prejudices of the desert in respect of 
 horse-breeding are in every mouth. Partnerships in a mare between a nomad 
 and a townsman are common, and form one of the ways in which Arabia's 
 best blood continues itself outside of the desert. But, broadly speaking, the 
 town and village bred division is more remarkable for diversity than quality. 
 Little and often, is how a Turkish Pasha likes to have his hand softened ; 
 and when no ducats offer, he will accept a mare or a colt from a candidate 
 for his favour. Every peasant works with mare cattle ; and a mare with foal 
 at foot costs no more to keep than a barren one. Many a great horse of the 
 Indian Turf, if we mistake not, has owed his birth to a drudge whose shoulders 
 were sore from daily labour. From Mosul to the end of the Arab promontory, 
 to own a " bit of blood " and breed from her, forms the ambition of multitudes. 
 All this keeps up a great growth of horse-breeding. It is the fashion with 
 many to express a high disdain for all horses which do not come straight from 
 the Bedouin ; but it is possible to carry this too far. We do not dispute the 
 pre-eminence of the pure-bred desert horse. In his highest forms, he is to his 
 half-and-half relations what our thoroughbred is to hacks and carriage cattle. 
 But nature never gives to any breed, any more than to any individual, the com- 
 bined excellences or qualities of all. The right saddle needs to be put on the 
 right horse. It is breeding that makes the Clydesdale and the racer alike excel 
 in their respective tasks ; but the same illustration shows how essential it is that 
 the work and the breeding^ should be conformable. 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 HORSE-BREEDING AMONG THE SETTLED ARABS. 
 
 147 
 
 The varieties of horsemanship to be seen outside of the desert are as numerous 
 as the differences of class and breeding in the liorses. If the settled Arabs 
 broadly represent one stratum, and the wandering- another, the modern super- 
 structure consists of the Osmanli. For the most part, these are sorry objects 
 on a horse. But there are many exceptions, especially among soldiers. We 
 know a commandant of artillery who is at once a finished horseman and a 
 highly artistic coper. Colts of his training would pass muster even at Vienna. 
 Nor should reference be omitted to countrymen of our own engaged in 
 commerce in towns like Baghdad and Damascus, who, being light - weights 
 and sportsmen, keep buying, or even breeding, colts and selling them. 
 A cavalry officer in India or Egypt who chances to buy as a charger 
 one that has passed through hands like the above may find himself to his 
 surprise, the first time of mounting, riding a very well taught one. Tuition 
 of a different sort is that of the numerous predatory hill - men, masters from 
 childhood of every volt in Eastern horsemanship, who enrol themselves, with their 
 horses, in the mounted police, to ply their natural calling in the Sultan's 
 name. When sent hither and thither to squeeze the dues of Government 
 out of reluctant Arabs, these worthies seldom fail to take back as their 
 private property — often as the price of saying that they could not find the 
 person wanted — a nice colt or filly ; which, after riding it for a year or two, 
 they turn into money. Thus they form great purvej^ors for the jam-bazes ; 
 and their duty takes them into places over which it would never pay professional 
 horse-buyers to travel. 
 
 English and other European saddles, also Turkish, Circassian, and ornate 
 Persian ones, are used in towns ; but the commoner road or travelling saddle of 
 the settled Arabs is more or less like this — 
 
 Saddle {sarj) of the Arabs and Kurds. 
 
148 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. book ii. 
 
 The saddle on the preceding page was made at Su-lai-ma-ni-ya, a Kurdish 
 town of eastern I'rak, which is famous for articles of this description. In some 
 respects, perhaps, it has a hint to offer to our mihtary saddlers. The covering is of 
 felt, with only a few strips of leather added ; so that it needs but little cleaning. It 
 rarely sustains injury when the horse lies down and rolls while it is on his back. 
 Owing to the wooden tree being so arched, the weight of the heaviest man fails to 
 bring it down on the spine and withers. It straightens the rider, and throws him 
 on his fork, thereby saving the horse's loins. The great objection to it is its weight, 
 which is about two stone. It also too much raises the rider, and puts him out of 
 touch with his horse's frame. 
 
 The kJmr-jen, or wallets, which hang across the saddle of our sketch, were 
 made in Der. According to an Arab saying, the horseman's saddle - bags are 
 his larder. 
 
 The stirrup which hangs from the saddle of our cut is of the useful, not the or- 
 namental, pattern. They who study appearance ride out in stirrups of this shape — 
 
 Stirrup (i-i-kdb) op the Persians, Kurds, and Town-Arabs. 
 
 On gala occasions like the zaf-fa, or marriage-procession, these show well. In 
 real riding, they render unnecessary jointed stirrups or spring-bars ; for the foot 
 cannot remain in them after the seat is lost. Their sharp angles serve as spurs. 
 Gens d' amies in particular have a way of feeling the horse's flank with a stirrup- 
 corner at every step. This is said to be what makes their horses such un- 
 commonly brisk walkers. But the - property of the smart town stirrup thus to 
 hurt a horse's sides accounts for its non - appearance in the above - sketched 
 saddle — our seat over many an unmeasured mile of desert — the gilded shovels 
 proper to which were exchanged with a muleteer, much to his surprise and 
 delight, for the dingiest pair of irons in his collection. Other advantages of 
 the quieter article are that no one mistakes it for precious metal ; and when 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 HORSE-BREEDING AMONG THE SETTLED ARABS. 
 
 149 
 
 one p-oes amono- the Bedouin, it is not so suafffestive as the other is of the 
 rider's being a Beg, or official person. Arabia can have no clans so back- 
 ward as those found by certain travellers on the coast of Africa who refused 
 gold coins, and accepted gilt anchor - buttons, in payment for their cattle, 
 because the buttons had eyes, and the guineas had not ! But several times we 
 have perceived a Bad - u scratching hard at a Whippy's stirrup, to find out 
 whether it was silver : and once, on alighting among the Saiga, a squalid, 
 outlying sept of the Ae-ni-za, in a military cloak with gilt buttons, it looked 
 as if we might be followed and plundered for the sake of what no one doubted 
 was gold ! Speaking of this, we are not unmindful of the objection to disguises 
 already stated : but the professing to be what one is not ^ is one thing, and 
 the making of one's self a gazingstock is a different thing. As far as personal 
 safety goes, in northern Arabia, where the danger of molesting a European 
 is realised, that plainest of all advertisements of the Frank, the stiff-brimmed 
 helmet — so evidently not intended for prostration — forms the best passport 
 and protection. But it has its drawbacks ; and it is best for the traveller 
 as far as possible to discard all garments and articles of equipment which 
 too much savour of Europe. A saddle will pass, provided it be Eastern ; 
 or if European, taken from a lumber-room : for the Bedouin know that 
 townsmen cannot mount without a half-way foothold. But as for such 
 utensils as tubs and basins — inventions, by the way, for enabling one to per- 
 form his ablutions in polluted water — the view in the desert is, that they who 
 carry them have too much money. Once on the Euphrates, when journeying a la 
 Arabe, it befell us to have every article with us, except what was on the per- 
 son, overhauled by a ring of Bad-us, while we were supposed to be asleep. 
 First, the honest gelding munching his ration with the end of his rope in our 
 hand engaged them ; but the secret of him was soon talked out. Next, they 
 
 ^ The above view apart, it is as difficult in many 
 localities to keep European clothes in proper trim 
 as it is to replace them when they get worn out or 
 stolen. Thus, in travelling once from Baghdad 
 through Persia to Muhammara by the extremely 
 mountainous Pusht i kuh route, we nowhere found 
 a smoothing-iron. He who puts on a Bond Street 
 shirt with all its particularities hanging limp, or a 
 nicely cut white patrol jacket wrinkled and distorted 
 past recognition by Bakht-i-a-ri washing, is apt to 
 think that a suit of native pattern and material 
 would be preferable. In the frontispieces of A 
 Pilgrimage to El Medina ajtd Mecca (1857 edit.); 
 A Pilgrimage to Najd (1881); and Early Adven- 
 tures in Persia, Susiana, and Babylonia (1887), three 
 
 travellers so dissimilar as Captain (the late Sir) R. 
 Burton, Lady A. Blunt, and Sir H. Layard appear 
 before their readers in the costumes of those with 
 whom they mixed. But of the three it was the first 
 alone who did so with the object of escaping identi- 
 fication as a European ; and small blame to him, 
 considering whei'e he went. The second did it from 
 fancy, or convenience ; and Sir H. Layard for lack 
 of other garments. With all this, our countrymen 
 should remember that in the East even more than 
 in the West great men are expected to be great 
 dressers. Especially in Persia and India, he who 
 affects simplicity in this respect will, if unknown, be 
 simply taken for a pauper ; or, if known, for a nat- 
 urally uncivilised person. 
 
ISO 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK 11. 
 
 fastened on a cane of the species native to the hill-ranges of Southern India, 
 which for hard hitting beats even our ash plant ; but nothing was to be learned 
 from an article which pilgrims and others have widely distributed. Finally, the 
 thin hands found occupation over an enamelled iron flask, cased in a felt jacket. 
 Cold tea, it so happened, was the strongest liquor which this had ever held ; 
 and equally its mouth and cork proved dumb witnesses. The motion that it 
 was " a mother of brandy " seemed nevertheless on the point of being carried ; 
 when the greatest talker among them confidently asserted that it was a powder- 
 horn ; and a powder-horn it was voted. 
 
 Mares, as a rule, need nothing more to hold them when ridden than the Bedouin 
 halter; but a bit of the kind known in Europe as the Mameluke^ is used when 
 necessary. The sketches which are here presented show that, while a piece of rope 
 or string may serve for reins, the Arab townsman's bit is not a slight one. 
 
 Saddled and bridled more or less as has been shown, the colt bred in villages 
 or oasis-homesteads makes his d^biit at a fantasia, or fan-ids,'^ — a kind of circling 
 exercise, Avith or without the flourishing, or sometimes throwing, of the ja-rid or 
 lance, in which townsmen delight, while the Bedouin, in their love of the real 
 thing, sneer at it. A horse more for show than use, or, as we say, " a band-stand 
 horse" or "peacock," is called by the Bedouin, and would-be Bedouin, "a horse 
 of ^h.& fan-tds'' ; or perhaps a "horse of the zaffa," i.e., one only fltted to carry 
 a citizen in a marriage procession. It forms a pretty sight when, outside say of 
 Ku-wait or Der, between the afternoon and evening prayer-call, a. fau-tds is held. 
 The striplings begin it, and by degrees it spreads. The greybeards poise their 
 bd-ku-ras, or riding-canes, and join in it, 
 
 " In mazy motion intermingled,"^ 
 
 charging, wheeling, shouting. The faster the pace, the more their spread-eagle 
 style of horsemanship shows itself Here and there, one may see a cavalier 
 with a seat as stiff and upright as a school -rider's — perhaps from his having 
 spent some winters in Bombay, or even ridden gallops after his own fashion on 
 Indian courses. But most Arabs seem to think that the further they lean forward, 
 the more they help the horse that carries them ; like a gentleman rider of former 
 
 1 The introduction of this bit, name and all, into 
 England may date from the Crusades. In the Turkish 
 body-guards which were formed in Egypt under the 
 successors of Saladin, every man was a mani-luk, or 
 piece of property J- and in this way the famous Mame- 
 luke Sultans and Beys passed into history. As for 
 the bit, its proper place is a museum. Its tendency 
 to make a horse throw up his head instead of giving 
 
 to it may be the fault of the rider ; but the raws 
 which it produces in the flesh under the lower jaw are 
 enough to condemn it. 
 
 2 The explanation of a word owning a common 
 Greek root with our fancy thus appearing among 
 Semites is its having spread with the Aristotelian 
 vocabulary. 
 
 " Shelley, in Qucai Mab. 
 
CHAP. IV. HORSE-BREEDING AMONG THE SETTLED ARABS. 
 
 iSi 
 
 ~~ffi^Sr 
 
 / -2N 
 
 Arab Horseman's Bit and Bridle. 
 
152 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 days famous for his long proboscis, who, when he won on the post, as he often did, 
 
 and " M by a nose" was the judge's verdict, used doubly to enjoy the joke. 
 
 In watching a fan-tds of Arabs, their draperies all a-flutter, and their bodies 
 swayed in every direction, one wonders that the mares so seldom fall, and the 
 riders so seldom tumble off. The Jwrscmans grave is ahaays open} is one of their 
 sayings ; but badly as their horses' joints, especially the hocks, fare in these 
 exercises, accidents are rare. 
 
 Another feature of Arab life, both settled and nomadic, which bears on 
 Arab horse history, is the royal sport of hawking. In Arabia and Persia, 
 the ancient union between horse and hawk and greyhound is happily still 
 unbroken. On arriving after mid-day in a Bedouin encampment, one may find 
 that half of it is sleeping ; and that the only inmate of the Shekh's coffee-tent is 
 a sagar^ or falcon. Townsmen spare no pains to procure these birds from nests 
 in far-off mountains. When cool mornings show that the summer heats are over, 
 the work of training begins ; and the sport enlivens the short days of winter. 
 Antelope and bustard (with Arabs hii-bd-ra) are the game flown at. When 
 the gazelle is sighted, and the bird cast off, a brace of greyhounds is slipped. 
 Behind them goes the field, over the dead level, as hard as ever it can clatter ; 
 mostly one man's friends or servants ; mounted on seasoned, not to say screwed, 
 mares, with a sprinkling of colts added. By the end of the season, these latter 
 have either gone to pieces or galloped themselves into shapely youngsters, in 
 which every point is developed. Such of them as suit the market are then 
 snapped up by the jam-bazes ; who, after a course of stall-feeding, with just as 
 much exercise as will keep them from breaking their halters and kicking down 
 the walls, take or send them to Bombay. One of the many sights savouring 
 of antiquity in towns like Baghdad and Mosul is a Persian Agha or native Bey 
 riding out a-hawking, followed by two or three generations of his progeny, and a 
 tail of picturesque falconers and henchmen. 
 
 Thus the Arab horse may have a good deal of work slipped into him, apart 
 from the Bedouin and Al ghaz-u. If village-bred, perhaps he will be sold when 
 he can carry a saddle to some one who will not let him stand idle. In foal-hood 
 he will have enjoyed his freedom round the homestead ; trotting after his dam 
 when she is ridden on a journey ; developing bone and muscle ; and becoming 
 familiarised with sights and sounds when he is too young to mind them. Unfor- 
 tunate exceptions are the colts dropped in towns from mares received as presents 
 
 1 " Kab-ru V khai-yal maf-tuh'' 
 
 2 The Semitic word sakr, a species of falcon, must .. 
 have passed with the art of hawking from Asia into 
 
 Europe. The Italians wrote it sagro, and we saker, 
 which name also came to mean with us a small 
 cannon. 
 
CHAP. IV. HORSE-BREEDING AMONG THE SETTLED ARABS. 153 
 
 by Pashas, Na-kibs,^ and other personages too exalted to care for them till it is 
 time to turn them into money — the one thing which no one ever seems too pre- 
 occupied, or too well off, to consider. Not even in India do the collections of 
 amateur breeders on the " cabined, cribbed, confined " system contain more light- 
 boned or " sinew-tied " horses than may any morning be seen in Baghdad, in scions 
 of Arabia's finest strains, when the grooms are riding a Pasha's stud to water. 
 Partly by this want of " timbei"," and partly by the skin-diseases which run riot in all 
 such overcrowded and tainted stable-yards, the town-bred horse is recognisable. 
 
 And thus we see, not only that the climate of Arabia favours the develop- 
 ment of a horse of the galloping type which is associated in Europe with the 
 name of blood, but that the life of the people tends to stamp their stock with the 
 characteristics proper to a saddle-horse. True, to qualify their horses for the title 
 oi pure saddle-horses it is wanting that they should have been bred scientifically 
 — that is, through the e.x;clusive mating, during many generations, of those indi- 
 viduals whose excellence in this respect had been proved. But admitting that 
 the Arabian is not a perfected saddle-horse, yet he truly is a saddle-horse. He 
 and his progenitors have been that from a very early period. However much 
 he may be used in agriculture, or as a pack-horse, such work only comes into 
 his life by way of interlude or accident. The horses which the Arabs employ 
 in servile drudgery are not of one breed or class more than of another. One 
 sometimes sees harnessed to a well-rope- a friendless and forgotten waif, in 
 whose skin the large full veins stand out like the fibres on a vine - leaf, and 
 which has only to be mounted to show the Najdian mettle. Everywhere under 
 the sweltering Eastern sun — in Egypt, Arabia, and India — where fast work, in 
 saddle or harness, is exacted by the masses of the people from their horses, it 
 surprises Europeans how very much better to go than to look at the commonest 
 hacks are. Horses such as in England would pass into the kennel copper are 
 to be seen in the East carrying their owners or their servants, perhaps a-hawking, 
 perhaps on distant journeys ; when they tumble down, rising again ; and when 
 they give in at last, needing but a few days' rest and barley to restore them. 
 During a recent journey we bought, on an emergency, at a road-post of the military 
 police of the Osmanli, an I'raki Galloway, which, but for an uncommonly good 
 
 1 Etymologically, the Arabic na-kib and Latin 
 qicastor are not far apart in meaning. In the early 
 Islamic commonwealth the Na-/cib's functions re- 
 sembled those of the Roman magistrate. Later, 
 the same officials had for their raison d'etre the 
 inquiring into the pedigrees of, and superintending, 
 all who claimed exemption, as descendants of the 
 Prophet, from ordinary jurisdiction. Now their prin- 
 
 cipal occupation seems to be the administration of 
 lands devoted to pious uses. Thus, the Na-kib of 
 Baghdad is hereditary warden (inu-ta-wul-lt) of the 
 tomb of Shekh A'bdu '1 Ka-dir, Gi-la-ni ; cynosure of 
 all the Sun-nite iVIuslim equally of Central Asia, 
 Afghtaistan, and India. 
 2 V. aitic, p. 47. 
 
 U 
 
154 
 
 THE BREEDERS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 shoulder, was by no means built for weight-carrying. Use, however, is second 
 nature. In several respects he had suffered through carrying, before his bones were 
 fully formed, a gendarme, whose saddle was always loaded up with property ; but 
 he was better served by his defects than many horses are by their perfections. 
 At any rate, he proved capable of walking nearly five miles an hour, and marching 
 all day, under fifteen stone, without tiring. European travellers in the East, 
 when they are choosing horses for a journey, should always look out for such as 
 have been working. Last year an officer of the Simla " Intelligence " Branch, 
 who was leaving Baghdad for Persia, bought in the town a so-called roadster ; and 
 after the first march, one of the poor animal's fore-hoofs came off! We never 
 could find out how it had been put on. 
 
 JIOSQUE NEAR BAGHDAD. 
 
BOOK THIRD 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ARAB'S LOVE OF HIS HORSE. 
 
 N old writer describes tlie imagination as " that forward delusive faculty 
 ever intruding beyond its sphere ; of some assistance indeed to the 
 apprehension, but the author of all error." ^ However imperfect this 
 view of the illumining power may be, it is one which receives frequent 
 illustration in lands of the rising sun, whereon is the seal of antiquity ; and espe- 
 cially in Arabia a veil of glamour frequently comes between the European traveller 
 and real objects. They who would cut down like grass every ancient tradition 
 which does not rest on historical evidence, may perhaps consider that in several 
 places our "delusive faculty" has thus been captivated. But in the preceding 
 pages on Arab men and Arab countries, it has at least been our object to 
 separate fact from fable. And it is probable that the same process will have to be 
 carried a great deal further in the sequel. 
 
 The fictions which content the Arabs as to how their breed of horses ori- 
 ginated will appear in due season. Just now we would speak of the modern 
 European idea that the Arab horse is connected with the Arab religion. Two facts 
 are here present which must neither be overlooked nor made too prominent. One 
 is, the demonstration of the value of cavalry which the period of the Flight afforded 
 to the Arabs ; and the other, that wherever the Kur-an was carried it promoted the 
 multiplication of horses. In this part of the Arabian structure layers of distinctively 
 Jewish material or tradition are absent. According to Wellhausen, the name 
 Israel means El does battle ; and it was foreign to the ideal of Jehovah's army 
 to trust in an animal which in Biblical times was very specially regarded as the 
 embodiment of strength, and the " Father of Victory." In Deut. xvii. i6, the 
 breeding and the importing of horses were equally forbidden. Moses' lieutenant 
 and successor, Joshua, after defeating the five kings of the Amorites near Gibeon, 
 
 ^ Bishop Butler, in Analogy, Part I., ch. i. 
 
1 58 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. book ill. 
 
 "houghed their horses and burnt their chariots with fire" (Josh. xi. c))} The 
 Prophet and leader of the Arabs adopted the opposite policy in this respect at once 
 in civil and military affairs. We find Cromwell, on one occasion, writing to his 
 Auditor-general that " if a man has not good weapons, horses, and harness, he is as 
 nought." 2 And injunctions of the same practical tenor occur both in the Prophet's 
 ' Sayings ' and in the Kur-an. Among the former is that which occupies the place of 
 honour on our title-page ; and its meaning is, though it has many variants. Weal is 
 knotted in the forelocks of horses till the day of jttdgment. The following three pas- 
 sages of Al Kur-in will serve to show the reader how the one book used in Muslim 
 worship — the first, and in millions of cases the last and only, text-book of Muslim 
 children — tends to make the Arabs horsemen. Takinof first a "revelation" of 
 the militant species, we find this direction issued, in S. viii., from Medina, for the 
 employment of cavalry to defend the rising Arabian commonwealth : — 
 
 And set against them all that ye can of force. 
 
 And of pickets of horse [on the frontier] ; 
 
 Whereby ye shall make afraid the enemy of Allah,^ and your own enemy; 
 
 And others besides them, whom ye know not ; — God knoweth them. 
 
 Elsewhere (S. xvi.), in an enumeration of God's works, it is brought to mind how 
 " [He] hath created for you horses, mules, and asses, that ye may ride on them; and for ornature." 
 
 While in a third and more rhetorical passage, which is much admired by the 
 Arabs, to give intensity to a denunciation of man's ingratitude, God is made thus 
 to adjure the Horse : — 
 
 By the hard-breathing chargers — 
 
 The spark-compelling strikers of fire — 
 
 The forayers at daybreak — ■ 
 
 When they stir up the dust, 
 
 And charge home into a collected number — 
 
 Verily Man is an ingrate towards his Lord : 
 
 Ay, and he knows it ! 
 
 And truly his love of worldly weal has waxed strong. 
 
 Wots he not, when there shall be brought forth what is in the graves ; 
 
 And made manifest what is in the breasts; 
 
 Surely his God on that day shall know him. 
 
 — S. c. 
 
 The first time that the writer heard the second of the above pieces quoted was 
 in a coffee-house on the Euphrates, in which a light-hearted horse-dealer was edifying 
 
 ^ Nevertheless David, the second king of Israel, I dicates his having "houghed all the chariot horses, 
 whose genius was imperial more than tribal, after ! but reserved of them for an hundred chariots." 
 smiting the Zoba', to this day a Euphrates nation, and - Quoted by Captain Nolan in his book on Cavalry. 
 
 capturing 1700 horsemen and 20,000 footmen, took 
 the opportunity of equipping a small mounted force. 
 The account of this in 2 Sam. viii. 4 (revis. vers.) in- 
 
 5 The primary reference is to the Mecca recusants, 
 who had not as yet submitted to the Prophet. 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 THE ARAB'S LOVE OF HIS HORSE. 
 
 159 
 
 his friends with the interpretation, that two sorts of horses had been made — one 
 for work, and the other for ornament ; and that it was every one's own concern to 
 see that he did not buy the wrong article. Only one or two of the people around 
 approved of this, and a serious greybeard exhorted the speaker to " repent and 
 fear Allah"; but what chiefly struck us was that the passage cited failed to include 
 the Camel. When the quotation was verified, it appeared that, in the previous text, 
 the ancient beast obtains recognition under the general name of cattle ; — carriers of 
 yoiir loads to cities zuhich ye cmild not otherwise reach save luith wearied bodies. In the 
 earliest times referred to in the oldest existing literature, the camel was used equally 
 for riding ; ^ in the caravan trade of the " Ishmaelites " with Egypt ; - and in war : ^ 
 but in antiquity, as now, its prominent function was that of travelling packman. 
 As for the Ass, the East is not of one mind about him. Al Kur-an, while thus in one 
 place bracketing him with the Horse, in another (S. xxxi.) divulges that the most 
 hideotis of smrnds is his braying. The Bedouin Arab, as has been seen, despises him, 
 and will hardly return the good-morning ^ of one who is riding him. But in numer- 
 ous oriental cities, notably Damascus and Aleppo, a long-eared ambler is a favourite 
 mount both of the religious and the mercantile classes. Steeds of this kind are so 
 easy and amenable, that their owners are apt to form unreasonable expectations. 
 Thus, a Muf-ti once commissioned a dealer to procure for him a brisk she-ass, 
 which he might leave unexercised from one Friday to another, and nevertheless 
 find, when mounted, perfectly staid and contented. The man's answer was, that if 
 ever it should please the Almighty to transform a person of learning into a donkey, 
 he would buy the animal for his Reverence ; and his words deserve to be remem- 
 bered by those of our countrymen who are always asking their friends to help them 
 to find ideal horses. The Mule also is largely bred by the Kurds and the agricul- 
 tural Arabs ; but the latter prefer to sell him than to use him. One great object 
 of Arab hatred is a Persian ; and another is a Kurd : the former because he goes 
 so dangerously near worshipping A'li ; the latter, because he is held to be a savage.^ 
 If the elephant belong to Buddhism, and the cow to Brahmanism, similarly the 
 Arab horse may be claimed by Sun-nite, and the mule by Shi-ite, Islamism. 
 The stream of time has distributed among the Arabs a tradition that the Chaldeans 
 attempted to burn Abraham ; ^ that mules carried the firewood ; and that their 
 sterility forms the punishment! In the Arab biographies of the Prophet, it is men- 
 
 ^ Gen. xxiv. 61. ^ Gen. xxxvii. 25. ^ Isa. xxi. 7. 
 
 ■* In Arabic, Sab-ba-ha-ka 'llah bi V 'khazr: lit., 
 May Allah morning thee "with good. It is only be- 
 tween Muslim that the greeting of " Sa-lam " (from the 
 same root as Islam) mutually passes. 
 
 * Arabs say, The Ktcrdi, even if a Walt (Governor), 
 is still a bear. Nevertheless, many of Islam's great 
 doctors have been natives of Kurdi towns like Kar- 
 kiik, Su-lai-ma-ni-ya, and Arbil. 
 
 ^ In Hebrew «;-means_/f;v. The Rabbinic tradition 
 that the Chaldees cast Abraham into the fire, like 
 Shadrach and his two companions, and with the same 
 result, for " dissent " from idol-worship, suggests the 
 I'eading of tir in this sense, and not as a place-name, 
 in Gen. xv. 7 {%>. ante, p. iii, in fn. 2). The same 
 representation is not unknown in Eastern and Abys- 
 sinian Christianity. Al Kur-an (S. xxi.) has further 
 diffused it. 
 
i6o 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 tioiied that he prized and rode a white mule which he had received as tribute from 
 the Roman Governor of Egypt. On the other hand, it is related that when a 
 second mule was presented to him, and A'li wished to breed another like it, he 
 expressed the opinion that no one who possessed understanding would propose so 
 unnatural a cross ! But to return. Wherever Muhammad's words are current, a 
 halo surrounds the Horse. In the heart of Abyssinia, among the Muslim Gallas, 
 we have heard Mullas telling how God honoured him, by swearing an oath upon him. 
 European readers probably think all this very trivial ; and in order to understand 
 its limits, two series of facts already glanced at must be recalled : one, that the 
 Arabian breed was perfected long before Muhammad, so that the Arabs when 
 they made their first grand entry into history were already horsemen and sons of 
 horsemen ; the other, that Arabia is by no means so religious a country as many 
 imagine. As touching townsmen, Muhammad's ordinances — if we except the five 
 daily prayer-calls, and the fast from sunrise to sunset ^ in the month Ra-ma-dhan — 
 follow the lines of human nature. In regard to the Bedouin, it has been noted how 
 the artificiality of the Islamic structure, its adaptations or compromises, and above 
 all, the nodules of jDaganism which are embedded in it,^ made the nomads view it as 
 a putting of new wine into old bottles — a thing for townsmen, not for them. All 
 this is perhaps scarcely enough allowed for by foreigners. Indian Muslim think that 
 the city of the Ku-raish — one of the few places in the world where the only God- 
 name that is heard is Allah — must be like a gate of Heaven ; but when the pilgrim 
 caravan deposits them there, the laxity of Meccan morals surprises them.^ According 
 to a well-known proverb, it is darkest under the lantern. With the important 
 exception of the open sale of spirituous liquors being prevented, the " Holy City" 
 is as secular as Bombay. But the nominal headquarters of the faith, and its covet- 
 ous spendthrift inhabitants, are peculiar in this respect. Towns of El Islam which 
 do not live on the piety of pilgrims produce, as a rule, a considerable growth of 
 sanctity of their own. The grip which the Kur-an has of the great body of the 
 people well supports the title which has come down with it of the " Prophet's 
 Miracle." The volume itself, in every household fortunate enough to possess a 
 
 ^ The words are : And eat and drink {i.e., during 
 the hours of darkness) till, by reason of the daybreak, 
 there be distinguished by you a white thread from a 
 black thread : then keep the fast till ?iight. — S. ii. 
 
 2 Even so the Pope's instructions to the first Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury provided that heathenism should 
 not be abruptly broken with ; and that the existing 
 temples should be used for Christian worship. Few 
 sensible men think the less of Christmas, as a Chris- 
 tian festival, because several of its customs point to 
 the old pagan worship with which the feast was first 
 
 associated. Many other, and more important, ob- 
 servances of Christendom represent a carrying over 
 and adaptation of earher usages. 
 
 ' This reference to the corruption of manners in 
 Mecca does not rest merely on the late Sir R. Bur- 
 ton's description, which is now 40 years old. At the 
 present time, the accounts of Turkish and Indian pil- 
 grims amply confirm it. Since the decline of the 
 Ku-raish, the city of the Ka'ba has been growing less 
 and less Arab. Even its more or less fixed population 
 is full of foreign layers. 
 
CHAP. I. THE ARAB'S LOVE OF HIS HORSE. 161 
 
 copy, is wrapped in a cover, to guard it against unwortliy contact ; and when not 
 in use, reposes in honourable separation on a Httle wooden stand wliich is specially 
 made for it. The Book is appealed to on all occasions. The shopkeeper, when 
 he removes his shutters, sits down to pore over it, or makes his little son recite it, 
 till the day's traffic and custom begin. The Governor of the province, when not of 
 the reforming and absinthe school, places it near him in his divan, atop of all the 
 newfangled codes and circulars of his Government. Old and young, rich and poor, 
 saint and sinner, reverence and quote it as the Word of God in Heaven. Hence it 
 follows that attachment to horses assumes for townsmen almost the character of 
 a religious virtue. In General Daumas' work on the Arabs in Africa, it is stated 
 that the Amir A'bdu '1 K^-dir, when at the height of his power in Algeria, inflicted 
 death on every Muslim who was convicted of selling a horse to a Christian. It is 
 likely that religious fervour, combined with oriental sentiment, had a share in this 
 policy. But next to a full treasury and a martial population, a copious supply of 
 horses ranks highest among the elements of a non-maritime nation's strength. At 
 this day the Sublime Porte is too easily moved by the representations of its officials 
 to try to stop the export of horses. But we never knew an Arab who approved of 
 this arbitrary action ; and even the Wah-ha-bis of the central districts embark their 
 money in the Indian horse trade. 
 
 The recurrence of the name Wah-ha-bi, or, as we shall write it, Wahabi, sug- 
 gests that it may be well to qualify the general facts of the Bedouin's coldness 
 towards Islamism by bringing out a little further the puritanic social organisation 
 which was founded in Arabia, ten centuries after Muhammad, by A'bdu '1 Wah-hab.^ 
 This too was a Muhammad, whose birthplace was in the heart of Najd. His full 
 name was Muhammadu 'bn A'bdi '1 Wah-hab ; but, according to usaee, he is known 
 by the paternal part of it. His followers bear the designation of Wahabi. In vivid 
 personal piety, rigorous application to study, and devotion to the theocratic ideal, he 
 was another Calvin — a Puritan, or purist, who believed that he had found the 
 original creed and way to heaven. Yet must this name Puritan, like every other 
 term which is transplanted from one religion to another, be applied with caution. 
 Few now believe Puritanism to be the pure ore of Christianity. And, similarly, 
 although the Damascus doctors have pronounced Wahabyism the true Is-lam,- it 
 is best, at least for Europeans, to regard this as doubtful. Long ago, in the capital 
 of Scotland, an eminent Hebraist used to tell his students that " Calvinism was 
 Jehovahism." Precisely so, the Wahabi says that Wahabyism is Allahism ; the un- 
 
 ^ A^bdu V Wah-hab means, Servant oj the Great 
 Giver. 
 
 - We cannot give chapter and verse for this decis- 
 ion, but learned men in Baghdad quote it : also Prof. 
 
 Kuenen, of Leiden, at p. 51 of his " Hibbert Lecture" 
 for 1S82, on National Religions and Universal Reli- 
 scions. 
 
 X 
 
162 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 adulterated worship of the Only One, as Muhammad preached it. Passing from this, 
 however, among the visible features of A'bdu '1 Wah-hab's system are, antagonism 
 to secular rule ; and the putting down of saint- worship, as of every other practice 
 which tends to approximate the created to the Creator. In Baghdad, a proverb runs 
 that for every noble horse which neighs, a hundred asses set up their discords ; and 
 the same thing happens in religions. To make a Wahabi, it needs some approach 
 to A'bdu '1 Wah-hab's mastery of theological learning, and some slight infusion of 
 his rare and elevated qualities, matured by long travel. It is outside the scope of 
 our volume to open further the slight views of Wahabite history which have 
 appeared in other contexts.^ In again referring to the half-religious, half-military 
 despotism which A'bdu '1 Wah-hab, and his princely convert, the first historic Ibnu 
 's Su-u'd of Du-rai-t'-ya, founded, we wish but to speak of its influences on nomad 
 manners. It would be wrong to suppose that the essentially Arabian elements 
 which entered into the Wahabite government made it palatable to the Bedouin 
 nations. Its power, when at its height, was as centralised as that of the Turks ; and 
 it was supported by taxation and a standing army. The mere fact of its being a 
 " Government " was enough to set all those against it who loved the natural manners 
 of the desert. True, the leaders of the movement were Bedouin, mainly of the 
 Ae-ni-za ; and its fortunes depended on the prowess of Arabian Shekhs. But these 
 were the players of the game, or their followers^the throwers-in for the spoils and 
 prizes. The masses of the Arabian nomads clung to, their traditions. Hordes of 
 them migrated, so that Wahabi became another name for Najdian marauder, as far 
 north as Mosul. Even then, in Najd itself, tribal jealousies brought about numerous 
 openings in Wahabyism. Had this been otherwise, Turkish and Egyptian mercen- 
 aries, with all their hammering, would never have succeeded in breaking it. As for 
 townsmen, except in a few districts, the Wahabite yoke sat even more uneasily on 
 them than on their brethren in the open. A cudgelling at every lapse from strict 
 religious practice was felt to be too high a price to pay for purity of doctrine. 
 Owners of houses and orchards could hardly disappear like Bedouin. Their only 
 safeguard was conformity ; but very many, according to Burckhardt, sold their 
 mares rather than follow the Ibn Su-u'ds. The Wahabite system was as rigorous 
 in small matters as in great. It was not enough to sack, or lay in ruins, every 
 tomb at Mecca, Kar-ba-la, and Medina, the Prophet's included, round which, through 
 the offering of gifts and vows to the departed, something like polytheistic cults had 
 formed.^ Absolute authority, against which no appeal was possible, enforced the 
 
 .1 K p. 30, ante, f.n. 2 ; et Book I., chap. ■i,;passim. 
 " The Prophet said. Do not pray towards tombs. 
 Following Knox's maxim that " the best way to keep 
 the rooks from returning was to pull down their nests," 
 
 in 1801 a Wahabite anny not only cleared Husain's 
 tomb at Kar-ba-la of all " idolatrous " relics, but regu- 
 larly demolished it ; at the same time that the town 
 was plundered, and its male inhabitants slain. 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 THE ARAB'S LOVE OF HIS HORSE. 
 
 1(53 
 
 outward signs of piety. All amusements were tabooed. In order that the dress 
 might be in keeping with the sanctimonious long-drawn visage, the wearing of silk, 
 or ornaments, or gay clothing, was prohibited. In such matters as public prayer, 
 and the observance of the yearly fast, the reins were drawn very tight. Ar 
 Ri-adh, the capital, and other towns, maintained for this purpose a machinery 
 resembling that of Geneva. Elders ^ patrolled the streets on Fridays when the 
 mosques - were full, attended by slaves for the prompt castigation of loiterers.^ 
 These inquisitors entered every home, and even claimed the right of intruding on 
 the A-mir, and advising him, as John Knox did Queen Mary. The theocratic 
 organisation was developed to an extent unknown in Europe, where there always 
 is a separate political administration with which the clergy, or congregation, have 
 to reckon.* So far as this went, they who lived by their right hand in their 
 own wildernesses might laugh at it when the news reached them. The desert 
 contains no sacred edifices into which men can be driven. The features of the 
 Bedouin are naturally grave. Even in their summer feasts, when their boys are 
 circumcised by wandering barbers, and the chorus-chanting maidens put on feathers 
 and bright kerchiefs, their gaiety is that of people who live on milk in various 
 
 1 Called locally Mud-da-i'-yin, or exactors. 
 
 ^ In Arabic, mas-jidj lit., place of pi'ostration. 
 Mas-jid is the generic term for a house of prayer. 
 The sanctuary to which (in Arabia, chiefly in the 
 Sunnite body) the people resort, congregaiionally, 
 especially on Fridays, is called Al JA-mi' (short for 
 Al Mas-jidu V Ja-mi\ i.e., Mosque which collects 
 7nen). 
 
 ^ Scotland once enjoyed similar advantages. In 
 Chambers's Traditions of Edinburgh (1847 edit., p. 31) 
 we read: "It was in those days" (about 1735) "a 
 custom to patrol the streets during the time of divine 
 service, and take into captivity all persons found 
 walking abroad, and indeed make seizure of what- 
 ever could be regarded as guilty of Sabbath-breaking." 
 
 * Two high points of Wahabyism, namely, " con- 
 version" through conquest, and the repudiation of 
 rulers who fall short of the theocratic ideal, tend to 
 give political interest to the question of whether this 
 is Al Is-lim, or a misinterpretation of it. The final 
 authority — Al Kur-an — explicitly announces that Allah 
 does not lay on any man's C07iscie??ce the duty of at- 
 tempting that which is impossible (S. ii.) According- 
 ly, all moderate authorities are of opinion that, in 
 ce?-tai?i circumstances and with certain important 
 limitations, a Muslim people may, and must, submit 
 to a Government whose faith is not their faith. Simi- 
 larly, the precept which enjoins Pilgrimage is made 
 conditional on the possession of the necessary means 
 
 or ability. In regard to propagandism, the fact has 
 too much escaped notice that Al Is-lam has, from the 
 first, protected Christians,- and other " people of the 
 Book," on .the easy terms of their ceasing to fight 
 against it, and paying tribute. The keynote is, the 
 noble text in S. ii., Let there be no compelling one to 
 do a thing in religion. It is perfectly true that 
 utterances apparently of a different tenor were put 
 forth later, notably in Su-ra ix. ; but such were di- 
 rected against the public enemies of the Arab empire, 
 — those who neither had embraced Islamism nor sub- 
 mitted and paid tribute. Muhammad's Su-ras cover 
 about twenty-three years of momentous Arabian his- 
 tory, and in order to understand them, it is necessary 
 to study the situations out of which they severally 
 arose. Due allowance rnust also be made for the 
 tendencies of human nature, especially under the ex- 
 citement of campaigns and conquest. But, on the 
 whole, the Muslim annals abound in bright exam- 
 ples of toleration. In Spain, when the success of 
 a mere maritime ghaz-u from the opposite coast of 
 Africa opened the country to Mii-sa, ibn Nu-sair, 
 and his lieutenants (A.D. 711), the indulgence shown 
 to Jews and Christians was, for that period, remark- 
 able. In India, under its Muslim emperors, the 
 Hindus held high office. At this day the Hyderabad 
 Government builds, or helps to build, places of wor- 
 ship for its Christian employees ; which is more than 
 we do for our Muslim ones. 
 
1 64 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 forms, or on bread dipped in melted butter ; and rarely partake of animal food. 
 But there was one thing in Wahabyism which the Bedouin hated, and that was its 
 intolerance of tobacco ; perhaps because considered an intoxicant, perhaps merely as 
 a superfluous "fleshly indulgence."^ If the black juice of the Mocha berry is as 
 his life's blood to the nomadic Semite, the smoke of his pipe is as the breath of his 
 nostrils. Truly, when one is staying with him, it looks as if in his lazy dreamy tent- 
 life, tobacco served him in lieu of other sustenance.^ In vain does the strict Wahabi 
 apply to this favourite herb the epithet of Al Makh-zi, or the execrable. No 
 sooner is a Bad-u seated in a company, than he pulls out a little bag in which is 
 a clay pipe-bowl ; or perhaps, as he depends for that on pedlars, a substitute in wood 
 or bone of his own carving. If no one offer to supply him, a pinch of the drug 
 is next produced, and then a short wooden stem ; though frequently the sa-bU^ 
 itself is put to the lips. What the wine-cup is in European poetry, the pipe-bowl 
 is in the unwritten song-book of the Arabs. Come fill up the pipe with the tobacco 
 
 of this locally celebrated vendor or the other, does duty in the tents of the 
 
 nomads for the lyrics about " mantling cups " and " purple wine " which permeate 
 European literature. 
 
 The fact of Wahabyism, in spite of its rigours, having so upreared itself in 
 Arabia is as remarkable as it is apparent. At first from Du-rai-i'-ya, and after- 
 wards, when an Egyptian general had laid that in ruins, from the new capital, Ar 
 Ri-adh, the light of A'bdu '1 Wah-hab's lantern spread over spaces till then unclaimed 
 by Islamism. One consequence of this has doubtless been to place the Horse on a 
 higher level than ever in the estimation of the Arabs, as a means of giving force 
 and wings to armies. But more to our present purpose is the effect which, as seen 
 already, the wars between the Osmanli and the Wahabis had, in transferring to 
 other countries large numbers of the best mares in Najd, partly as the spoil of 
 military officers, and partly with their emigrant owners. 
 
 Out of this view of modern Arab history there even comes an illustration of 
 
 ^ Here again Scottish Puritanism furnishes an ana- 
 logy. Lockhart says in his Life of Sir W. Scott 
 (vol. i. p. 312): As a "Presbyterian of the old 
 school, . . . Scott's father . . . was habitually ascetic 
 in his habits. 1 have heard his son tell that it was 
 common with him, if any one observed that the soup 
 was good, to taste it again and say, 'Yes, it is too 
 good, bairns,' and dash a tumbler of cold water into 
 his plate." In Wahabyism, the prohibition of tobacco 
 does not stand alone, but extends, as has been seen, 
 to other articles not less innocent than a basin of good 
 soup. 
 
 - The following 17th century verses show that amid 
 all the ups and downs of tQbacco, and the fulminations 
 
 and penal enactments which have been levelled 
 against it, the sedative effect which it produces on the 
 stomach has long been known in other countries than 
 Arabia : — 
 
 " Much meat doth gluttony procure, 
 To feed men fat as swine ; 
 But he's a frugal man indeed 
 That with a leaf can dine. 
 
 He needs no napkin for his hands. 
 
 His finger-ends to wipe. 
 That hatli his kitchen in a bo.\ ; 
 
 His roast-meat in a pipe." 
 
 ^ The pipe-bowl, or sa-Ml, is called bus in the speech 
 of the Bedouin, 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 THE ARAB'S LOVE OF HIS HORSE. 
 
 1 65 
 
 what a small place the world is ; or rather, of how the events that happen in it 
 depend on one another. The three patriarchal and immortal horses of English 
 Turf history, the Byerly Turk, Darley Arabian, and Godolphin,^ were exported 
 either before A'bdu '1 Wah-hab was born or before he began to preach. The only 
 one of them whose lineage has ever been established, the Darley, was bought,^ as 
 has been seen, in Queen Anne's reign. But without going so far back, it is easy 
 to name valuable Arabians that have found their way to Europe in the present 
 century, because of the troubled condition which prevailed down to a recent period 
 in inner Arabia. Take, for example. Dervish, one of a group which is depicted in 
 a future chapter. Sidn&y's Book of t/ie Horse cont-ains the following history of this 
 genuine son of the desert, from the pen of his owner, Mr George Samuel : — 
 
 " Dervish was taken in a skirmish between the troops of A'li Pasha of Baghdad and some 
 of the Wahabis in the Najd country. A friend of mine. General Chzanowski, was in the aftair ; 
 and A'li Pasha made him a present of the colt, then a yearling. The General was attached to 
 our Embassy at Constantinople. He brought Dervish and an Arabian mare of the Aeniza 
 breed back with him. I purchased them and sent them home in 1842. Eventually I sold 
 Dervish to Count Lavish, a German nobleman. The horse died in 1863, having been the sire 
 of about 300 colts and fillies." 
 
 And now to bring together the results which have been arrived at. Notwith- 
 standing the impulse given to Islamism by the Wahabite "revival," the Arabian 
 nomad has to a great extent remained outside of the current. The mare which 
 none can rival confers so many benefits on him, that town lore cannot add to his 
 appreciation of her. What the cleverest collie is to the Cheviot shepherd, gives 
 but a faint idea of what his mare is to the desert pricker. The only instance 
 known in Scotland of a dog which helped his master to increase his flocks by 
 transferences from those of others ended tragically — that is, at the end of a 
 rope — both for the biped and the quadruped. In Arabia, many a one will want 
 for milk and wool and mutton, sooner than he whose mare is always saddled. 
 The owner of a Derby winner and first favourite for the great St Leger does not 
 cast so great a shadow, as he does on the superiority of whose mare the safety of 
 the flocks and herds depends. For her sake he may be asked to marry an orphan's 
 
 1 V. ante, p. 138, f.n. i. 
 
 - By Mr Thomas Darley, agent of an English mer- 
 cantile firm at Aleppo. In 1705 the colt was sent 
 from Aleppo, as a present, to John Brewster Darley, 
 Esq. of Aldby Park, near York, a brother of the 
 gentleman who had bought him. The letter which 
 accompanied him expressed a modest hope that he 
 would "not be much disliked" in England, seeing 
 that he was " highly esteemed " at Aleppo, and such 
 as could have been " sold at a very considerable 
 
 price." The Sporti7ig Magazine for December 1823 
 contains an account of the horse, with his portrait. 
 To verify the latter, we had a copy made of the 
 original painting still hanging in the hall at Aldby : 
 and the copy thus obtained perfectly corresponds 
 with the likeness which the Sporting Magazine gives. 
 Another reproduction of the same old picture appears 
 in Portraits of Celebrated Race-Horses, by T. H. 
 Taunton, M.A. : Sampson, Low, Marston, 1887 ; vol. 
 i. p. I. 
 
1 66 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. BOOK ill. 
 
 ten score camels; as, in other countries, one may marry lands and houses. If he 
 
 rear a colt from her, he is everywhere received with consideration because of his 
 
 horse ; and his own kindred will not, if they can help it, let him leave them. Under 
 
 any circumstances, the desert gallant experiences the keenest pangs when he is 
 
 forced to surrender his mare as a prize to a better-mounted adversary. But if 
 
 he have 
 
 " Nursed the pinion which impelled the steel," ^ — 
 
 that is, if his own tents produced the stock which has got the better of him, — his 
 plight is that of him who is beaten in the Derby by a castaway from his own stable. 
 There are no hundred-guinea sires in Arabia. The prizes of the turf and sale-ring 
 are needed for that. It is said that there exist, among the Bedouin, primitive 
 peoples who are satisfied with a lamb as stud-fee ; but wherever we have been, less 
 Arcadian payments have been current — not large sums, but still coin? A couple 
 of shillings are much thought of by those who buy hardly anything beyond dates 
 and bread-stuffs, coffee and tobacco, and, when the opportunity offers, ammunition. 
 The Bedouin Arab is one of those who think little fishes sweet ; and as no limit is 
 set to the number of mares among the desert horse-breeders, and a colt's powers 
 may be called on while he is still a yearling, the owner of an approved horse makes 
 up for the smallness by the frequency of his receipts. The effect of this on the 
 breed, and on the individual, is but little considered by the Arabs ; whose opinion 
 eoes no further than that the earlier a colt begins to cover, the sooner he will be 
 a horse ! One consequence of every celebrated horse, whether young or old, sound 
 or unsound, thus earning a little income, is that the prices which are asked and 
 obtained in the desert for pedigree animals are apt to run high. 
 
 In regard to non- Bedouin Arabia, what we have seen is this. In the establish- 
 ments of the great, horses mark their owner's rank and wealth, mount the followers, 
 and round off the pomps and vanities. In the sheds of the humble, they reveal the 
 irresistible bent of the Arabs to tie a mare beside them, however limited their spaces 
 may be. Mullas praise the horse, for their Prophet's sake ; travellers, because he 
 carries them ; cultivators, because he promotes their husbandry ; and jam-bazes, 
 because the means of subsistence and foundations of wealth are "in his forehead." 
 In a word, in settled, as in pastoral, Arabia, innumerable endearing associations of 
 war and love, chase and journey, toil and pleasure, centre in him. 
 
 ' Byron, in English Bards and Scotch Reviewers. owner of a horse of reputation feels that he can hardly 
 
 - The reader will understand that this statement 
 applies exclusively to the desert. In towns, every 
 
 refuse his services, and it would be considered a shame 
 to receive payment. 
 
\6-] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FOREIGN ESTIMATES OF THE ARABIAN. . 
 
 UP to this point we have been chiefly occupied with the Arabian Horse in 
 countries where he is regarded as the work and gift of Allah, which neither 
 needs nor admits of improvement. But the time has arrived to consider another 
 series of facts. The same breed commands almost an equal degree of admiration 
 wherever it is known. The horse of nations with whom the world, if ever it was 
 ^^oung, still is so, and for whom the "long results of time" are traditional and un- 
 written, is sought out by the most civilised Governments for the improvement of 
 their studs and the expansion of their empire and resources. Several of the greatest 
 generals of modern Europe have shown a strong preference for Arab horses as 
 chargers. In the courtly circles of Persia and India, this is the horse which is 
 prized above all others. The point is, what do these familiar facts imply? Is the 
 Arabian abroad a genuine good thing or an illusion ? Is it his merits that have 
 
 k:> Q o 
 
 thus distingtiished him, or chiefly his oriental associations, and the circumstance that 
 no one knows exactly where he comes from ? Such are the questions which next 
 await us ; but first, it may be well to notice what has been said by others, both in 
 favour of the Arabian breed and in depreciation of it. 
 
 The praises of Arabians by their owners which occur in popular books require 
 to be received with abatement. Not only does admiration come more naturally 
 than fault-finding, but the authors of such passages have frequently been literary 
 persons, without any very wide experience of horses. This applies to one of 
 the prettiest and most frequently quoted references of the class alluded to — that 
 in which, in his Narrative of a Journey through the Upper Provinces of India In 
 1824-5, the amiable Bishop Heber commended his Arab riding- horse. ^ 
 
 No ancient or modern Church can bear comparison with the Church of England 
 
 - V. 1828 edition, in two 4to vols., of the Bishop's Narrative, in vol. ii. p. 319. 
 
i6S GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. BOOK iii. 
 
 in the power of producing excellent preachers and parsons, who are also horsemen ; 
 but the author of " From Greenland's icy mountains " represented a different phase 
 of clerical life. There can be no question that, for one whose seat is not well down 
 into the saddle, the Arabian is the pleasantest and the safest of all the chevaux de 
 hixe of the world. No one can be called a coachman who has never handled rougher 
 teams than gentlemen's ones, — -never worked a coach, stage after stage, and grappled 
 with them as they came — bolters, bo -kickers, and all sorts of reprobates. And neither 
 should one whose equestrian experiences have been confined to Arabs make too sure 
 that he is a horseman. While noting this, we would not be thought to suggest that 
 the clientele of the Arabian is, in any considerable degree, formed of men who are 
 not exactly centaurs. A far larger class of his admirers, in which are many of the 
 strongest riders in the world, consists of those who, when they are in the saddle, 
 have other things to think of than horsebreaking. An adjutant-general or an aide- 
 de-camp, whose charger is given to " sticking up," as it is called, under the saddle, 
 cannot perform his duty. We know as well as any one that Arabs also are some- 
 times difficult to ride. Even the gentlest have their little ways, especially with the 
 timid ; and we have known a few which would give any man an uneasy half hour, 
 when it was inconvenient to treat them to all that they required to sober them — • 
 a right good gallop. But, as a rule, horses of this breed, when asked to go in one 
 direction, do not insist on going in another direction, or fix themselves on their fore- 
 legs and curl up like hedgehogs. Their worst tantrums, compared, for example, with 
 the sullen humours of the Australian buck-jumper, remind us of the " Amaryllzdis 
 iras." If one or two of the many splendid Arabs which the late Emperor of the 
 French collected had been reserved for his ill-starred son, the Prince Imperial, the 
 fateful moment in Zululand would not have found him struggling with his charger. 
 
 It should also be remembered that, ever since Great Britain took charge of India, 
 the Arabian horse has enjoyed extraordinary opportunities of shining in the public 
 service. India has been surveyed and settled, not by the Englishman alone, but by 
 the Englishman and his horse. Important divisions of its cavalry armament— notably 
 the Lancers of the Nizam's country and the Central India Horse — obtain a large 
 number of remounts from the Arab horse - marts of Bombay. In the brief but 
 difficult campaign of 1856 in Persia, the straight swords and Arab horses of the 
 Bombay Light Cavalry demoralised the Shah's forces. Chargers from the Euphrates 
 have carried our soldiers to Candahar and Cabul, to Pekin and to Magdala. More 
 recently, in Burma, where it is extremely difficult to keep foreign horses healthy, the 
 cavalry of the Hyderabad Contingent added to the high reputation which it Inherits.^ 
 
 1 An officer of the 3d Lancers, Hyderabad Contin- , out a single sore baclc, and witli but one or two slight 
 gent, informs us that in Burma ninety of his men kept girth-galls." 
 
 constantly on the move for nearly three months " with- ' ' 
 
CHAP. II. FOREIGN ESTIMATES OF THE ARABIAN. 169 
 
 It would have been surprising if, in these and other ways, sentiments of admir- 
 ation for Arab horses had not been produced in Englishmen. We all hold by 
 what has served us. We may not treat or reward it properly, but at least we try 
 to keep it. A general officer who is appointed to command an expedition forms his 
 staff, as far as possible, of men who are known to him, and delights In seeing his 
 batteries and regiments led by old comrades. An amusing illustration of the 
 length to which this feeling may be carried was afforded by Horace Walpole, 
 who believed so firmly in James's powder as to declare that, if ever his house was 
 on fire, his first act would be to take a dose of it ! A passion for Arab horses is not 
 like that ; but when it leads an Englishman to paint his Arab in colours lent by 
 his imagination — or if, by chance, he possess a phoenix, to write as if the whole 
 breed resembled him — then, " Save me from my friends !" may well be said for the 
 Arabian. The principle of reaction, a great safeguard of moderation, at once comes 
 into play. When Mr Blunt went to Newmarket, " to preach," as he relates, " at 
 headquarters the new gospel of Arabia to the elders of the sporting world," a fine old 
 Trojan confided to him that, if the Arab horse " had any merit, he had got it from 
 certain thoroughbred sires imported to Arabia by Newmarket sportsmen at the time 
 of the Crusades." ^ It Is not every one who has the wit thus to turn the tables on 
 an opponent. But many an Englishman considers that, however suitable the Arab 
 steed may be to the half-famished Bedouin, he will sooner or later break the neck 
 of the well-fed European ; and that his value appears truly. If dolefully, at Tatter- 
 sail's, when a horse which may have cost a thousand guineas fetches perhaps about 
 the same number of shillings ! The mention of Tattersall's brinofs before us what a 
 despiser of Arabs the late Mr Richard Tattersall was. When the Najdi horse above 
 referred to as taken from the Wahabis arrived in London, he would not even go to 
 look at him. Nevertheless, on accidentally meeting him, the old man had to declare 
 that he was " the finest blood-horse of the size he had ever seen." - Saul amono- 
 the prophets ! The diversity of opinion which prevails among practical horsemen 
 on the subject of the Arabian will be apparent if we here insert the two following 
 extracts. The first Is from Sidney's Book of the Horse ; and Mr Sidney Informs 
 his readers that the writer of It is " one who has been engaged In dealing in the best 
 class of horses all his life — who has bred horses, trained them, ridden them on the 
 road. In the field, and over the steeplechase course ; driven, bought, and sold them ; 
 who is as much at home in the horse-world of Spain and France as of England." 
 This expert states his view of the case as follows : — ■ 
 
 1 op. cit. in Catalog. No. 14, p. 755. 
 - Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 25, p. 153, where also a 
 famous hunting man and breeder of horses says of 
 
 Dervish that " he had the most beautiful darting action 
 that I ever saw in his trot — the knee quite straight 
 long before the foot touched the <? round.'' 
 
I70 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. book hi. 
 
 "Do I like Arabs? No. In my opinion they have not one point to recommend them for 
 use in England in which they are not excelled by our own thoroughbreds. They are, with 
 very rare exceptions, very bad hacks ; they cannot walk without stumbling — in fact, they are 
 always stumbling ; they have no true action in either trot or canter ; they are slow in their 
 gallop, as compared with any well-bred English blood-horse. They are too small for hunting, 
 or for first-class harness ; and cannot race with common English platers. All I ever saw were 
 so formed, with the croup higher than the withers, that they rode doivn hill. 
 
 " When I was living in Spain, a very great personage, for whom I had procured some 
 high-class Spanish parade-horses, presented me with two Arabs of the highest caste — 
 purchased without limit as to price, in the neighbourhood of Damascus — a black and a grey. 
 They were as handsome at first sight as any picture of Arabs that I ever saw ; about 14 hands 
 3 inches high ; very temperate to ride, with great power in their hind-quarters ; but wanting 
 that slope in the shoulders, and that proportionate length, breadth, and power in motion which 
 are essential to make first-class riding action. 
 
 " I was living in Spain at that time, and had English thoroughbreds and half-breds, 
 Spanish mares of the carnet'o or Don Carlos breed, half-breds between the English blood- 
 horse ' Kedger ' (by Colonel Anson's ' Sheet Anchor ') and Spanish mares. These Arabs, 
 which had cost, perhaps, not counting political influence, ;£'iooo a-piece, were inferior in hack- 
 action, and as hacks, to English or Spanish horses of one-tenth the cost. I rode the grey 
 with a pack of harriers I kept ; he was an unpleasant hack, and no hunter. I trained them 
 both, and they were distanced by horses bred out of Spanish mares by my English blood- 
 horse ; finally, I put them to the stud, and their produce out of some twenty of my best 
 Spanish mares were inferior in size, early maturity, and market value to the stock of my 
 blood-horse. 
 
 " To sum up, Arabs are very bad hacks. They are too small for hunters even where, 
 exceptionally, they have hunting conformation ; too small and too devoid of elegant action 
 for harness ; and too slow for race-horses ; as sires, they are inferior to the English blood- 
 horses of power and symmetry which are to be purchased, when too slow for racing, at a less 
 price than a high-caste Arab. 
 
 " The one quality in which Arabs excel, endurance, and which they share with Australian 
 horses and Indian mustangs, is not required in civilised states, where travelling is either 
 performed by railways or post-horses." ^ 
 
 As a weight for the opposite scale, the reader may take the following outburst 
 of philo-Arabism, not by an Eastern veteran, but by a horseman at the Antipodes, 
 whose book, Ptt,re Saddle-Horses, has already been laid under contribution : ^ — 
 
 "About ten years ago," says Mr Curr, " I had many opportunities of seeing Arab horses 
 in Syria, Turkey, the Holy Land, and Egypt ; and before I saw them, I had already had some 
 experience of the horses of England, France, and Spain, besides those of Australia and 
 Tasmania ; in none of which countries I had resided less than a year. I had also seen those 
 of Greece, Italy, Flanders, Belgium, Switzerland, Turkey, and other places too numerous to 
 mention ; so that I may be said to have approached the examination of the Arab after having 
 seen most of the best breeds in existence. ... In all these countries I have ridden more or 
 
 A cit. in Catalog. No. 25, p. 145. | ^ Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 39, pp. 123-130. 
 
CHAP. II. FOREIGN ESTIMATES OF THE ARABIAN. 171 
 
 less; and had originally in Tasmania and Australia been so unceasingly in the saddle, that it 
 is not to be wondered at that I acquired a habit of glancing my eye over every horse that came 
 in my way, and involuntarily daguerreotyping his figure upon my memory. . . . 
 
 " Of Arab horses, though I have seen many belonging to Pashas and royal personages, to 
 rich men and wandering Bedouins, I am not sure that I have ever seen one of the most 
 esteemed castes. But, if not, I have seen many that had been purchased at respectable prices, 
 seen many of them at work, and ridden a few of them. A gardener soon forms an opinion of 
 a spade, and a woodcutter of an axe ; and so, one who has lived in the saddle soon makes up 
 his mind about horses. Mine, at all events, was not long in being satisfied. Instead of seeing 
 anything to object to in the Arab as a saddle-horse — his size excepted — all that I did see, and 
 all that I was enabled to glean concerning him in his native land, only led me the more 
 decidedly to endorse the opinions of those numberless very competent judges who had gone 
 before me. I never met a man who had tried him and did not like him. I found him in 
 speed inferior to the horse of England ; but in tractability, constitution, durability, soundness, 
 abstemiousness, temper, courage, and instinct, eclipsing and surpassing all other horses that it 
 has been my chance to meet with. In that quality so pleasing to the horseman, sagacity, 
 I think he has no equal. Even half-breeds sprung from him are remarkable in this point. 
 When in Syria, 1 bought a little horse which was no beauty, but had evidently got a good deal 
 of Arab blood in him. He stood 14.2, and was six years off. I had him about three months, 
 and rode him perhaps a thousand miles. He was never fed more than twice a-day under any 
 circumstances. At sunrise his breakfast, which consisted of two double handfuls of barley, was 
 given to him in his nose-bag. . . . Two hours after this, he was allowed about four quarts of 
 water. Three hours before sun-down he was taken to water, and allowed to drink his fill. Two 
 hours later ten double handfuls of barley, sometimes mixed with three or four handfuls of 
 chaff, were given to him. Such were the habits in which he had been brought up ; and such 
 the amount of food which proved in every way sufficient for him, even when at work. . . . On 
 this he looked as round as if he had eaten as much as our Australian horses are accustomed to 
 do. For twenty days I rode him thirty miles a-day. He had 15 stone on his back — the 
 country was mountainous and rocky, but he never made a false step, and I think he improved 
 in condition. I never remember to have found him weary. 
 
 " His intelligence was quite beyond any single instance I have ever witnessed in an 
 Australian horse. To say that he recognised his master, as one man does another, would 
 hardly be doing justice to his sagacity ; he rather seemed to recognise me as the detective does 
 his man, If, as was sometimes the case, he was in a stable with a hundred others, where many 
 persons would be constantly passing to and fro at all hours, he seemed to be constantly on the 
 watch for me. My voice, of course, he knew at once. The sound of my footsteps seemed as 
 familiar to his ear as was my appearance to his eye. He would greet me with his voice when 
 I was several hundred yards from my tent. 
 
 " Such is the Arabian horse. ... I do not know where you will have to go to find such 
 another ! Such he is now, and if we may trust the accounts of old travellers, such he has long 
 been ; . . . and whilst we remember that he wants but two inches in height to be the perfection 
 of horse-flesh (which want I firmly believe more plentiful food would radically supply in three 
 generations), let us not forget his renown as a sire, his sure-footedness, docility, beauty, speed, 
 abstemiousness, stoutness, and courage — where shall we find his peer .' All honour to the 
 little horse ! 
 
 " Who will contradict me when I assert that no breed of saddle-horses has shone which 
 
172 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. book hi. 
 
 has not possessed some strain of Arab blood ? Who will show me that I am incorrect when I 
 say that the virtues of European breeds are in exact relation to their affinity to the Arab ! 
 "Who that has known the Arab has not preferred him to all other horses?" 
 
 The above two extracts may be said to represent the proverbial two sides of 
 the shield. Our next undertaking will be to bring before the reader facts which 
 may serve to illustrate those two sides respectively. But before entering on this 
 task, let us plainly state that neither the one extreme nor the other will be upheld 
 in the following pages. If a writer's qualifications fail to appear as he proceeds, 
 his own recital of them will not avail him. Nevertheless, in here hazarding the 
 opinion that the superiority of the Arabian branch of the family has been too much 
 insisted on, our claim to practical experience may be stated. The author has 
 spent the best hours of a long life in the saddle or on the coach-box. If all the 
 Arabs which he has owned were to be paraded on the " further shore," a very respect- 
 able front rank and rear rank would be formed. He has marched, on horses of 
 different breeds, from Annesley Bay to Magdala, and from Peshawar to Cabul, as 
 well as over large parts of India, Persia, and Arabia ; having also for several years 
 been adjutant of a cavalry regiment mounted on Arabs. If he had not found 
 many sterling qualities in the Arabian, he would not have grown so attached to 
 him ; but that is a different thing from setting him on too high a pedestal. During 
 the same period he has also owned many English and Australian horses. The 
 result has been the conclusion just broadly stated ; and it is proposed in the next 
 two chapters to explain the grounds thereof. 
 
173 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ARABIAN COMPARED WITH OTHER VARIETIES, IN RESPECT OF 
 
 CONSTITUTION AND CHARACTER. 
 
 IT will facilitate the treatment of this subject if we deal with all the points 
 in regard to which the Australian writer awards superiority to the Arabian. 
 These points comprise, it will be noticed, every endowment, with the sole exception 
 of racing speed, on which the horse's credit depends. They are — tractability, con- 
 stitution, durability, soundness, abstemiousness, temper, courage, instinct, and saga- 
 city ; a goodly group, which, for the sake of making a division, may be classified as 
 bodily properties, or constitiUion ; and mental qualities, or character. 
 
 Constitution. 
 
 This term is here used to express every quality which either helps to con- 
 stitute, or is intimately connected with, soundness. 
 
 The fallacy of applying the epithet natziral, as opposed to artificial, to the 
 strains of the desert, has already appeared. In no other breed of horses is repro- 
 duction more effectually controlled and guarded by man than in the Arabian. The 
 Arabs have no paddocks in which stud accidents may hajDpen. The horse of 
 unknown or unapproved pedigree which grows up among the desert folk, 
 from never being- allowed to cover, takes but little notice of the mares beside 
 him. The stallions in use are kept so securely shackled, that stolen leaps 
 are next to impossible. In this and other respects, the Arabian breed is 
 broadly separated from purely natural races. But there are gradations in every- 
 thing ; and an unstabled variety, the native of a hot and dry climate, undoubtedly 
 is more a product of nature than the horse of cold and rainy latitudes, which has 
 been housed, and pampered, and physicked for many generations. As might be 
 expected, both the respiratory and digestive organs are healthier in Asiatic than in 
 
174 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. BOOK III. 
 
 European breeds. Eastern horses admit of comparison witli our Welsli and Exmoor 
 ponies in this respect. The observation of ages jDoints to hereditary predisposition 
 as a factor in many diseases. The proof of this is rendered difficult in the human 
 species by the action of modifying circumstances. When a bon vivant who loves 
 fruity wines and French cookery declares that he has inherited gout from his grand- 
 father, it is open to doubt whether his clief and butler have not more to do with it 
 than his deceased ancestor. We know a lady who believes that a certain "church- 
 yard cough," as she terms it, " runs in her family ; " while the truth is, that, like her 
 mother before her, she is foolish enough to be fond of an "airing" in an open car- 
 riage without sufficient covering. But in the lower animals, there is less difficulty 
 in distinguishing between acquired and inherited unsoundness ; and no practical 
 man hesitates to affirm that, in respect of health and disease, as in so many other 
 ways, the horse and mare live again in their progeny. It does not, however, follow 
 that because the Arabian generally begins life with a good, sound, open-air con- 
 stitution, he invariably maintains a clear health-sheet. Neglect, or mismanagement, 
 particularly after hard riding, is apt to give him colic, which may subsequently 
 recur from slighter causes. Coughs are perhaps even more frequent, though less 
 hurtful, in eastern than in western horses. The Arabs say that it is lucky when 
 the mare coughs, and the reverse when the riding-camel does so. Even when the 
 cough is in the air-passages, permanent changes in the vocal chords rarely result 
 from it. Wheezing, whistling, piping, roaring, are far from common sounds under 
 the clear skies which are east of the Mediterranean. The only Arab "roarer" 
 ever seen by us was a beautiful little horse which, owing to this infirmity, was 
 unplaced every time he started on the turf. Professional opinion differed as to the 
 cause. He was known to have been much used at stud in his own country ; 
 and it was conjectured that this might have affected him, as dram-drinking may 
 affect the human larynx. But more probably the evil originated in the over- 
 stabling and over-feeding to which he was treated, directly after exchanging his 
 own dry climate for the chilly Indian Deccan. Another colt which came with him 
 contracted a cough that lasted till he died many years afterwards, — a stomach cough, 
 possibly, seeing that it never did him any harm, but one with an extraordinary 
 power of defeating the doctors. When he was picketed in the open the cough 
 would leave him, but it always came back when he was re-stabled. Here it should 
 be mentioned that those who take their ideas of the Arabian's soundness exclusively 
 from what is seen of him in India, do not know the whole truth. As a rule, there 
 is no better market than the home one for English horses. One that can both 
 gallop and stay for two miles will fetch more money in Yorkshire than in Bengal. 
 There never were so many races in England as now in which bad performers can be 
 skilfully placed ; and as numbers of our countrymen, honest fellows, would rather 
 
CHAP. III. THE ARABIAN COMPARED WITEI OTHER VARIETIES. 
 
 175 
 
 win money with a wretch at some obscure meeting, than lose it with a flyer at 
 Epsom or Doncaster, a jade not worth its freight to a foreign port may excite keen 
 competition at home. Abroad, the case is different. Except on rare occasions, no 
 such prices are paid for Arabs in Arabia as those which prevail, for instance, in 
 India ; and this affords a fine field to the exporters. The disappointments which 
 these men suffer when one after another of their selections is sent before an Enorlish 
 veterinary surgeon in Bombay, only to be rejected for some defect unheard of by 
 their great-gi'andfathers, produce a salutary effect on them. At first they blame 
 themselves for not having offered a bakhshish to the " dochtor," as they call him; 
 but gradually they discover that their best policy is to look for sound horses. 
 Experiences which touch the pocket go home to every one. The tribes of Arabia 
 also, on perceiving that the buyers who visit them object to certain defects, try to 
 keep their rising colts as right as possible. 
 
 Returning from this slight excursion, let us search a little into the subject of 
 the Arabian's lamenesses, beginning with spavine. This disease, — for a disease it 
 truly is, — though recognised for at least two thousand years in Europe, and bearing 
 a name in many Eastern vocabularies,^ is unknown to the Bedouin, except at second 
 hand, through soldiers, farriers, and jam-bazes. The natural consequence of this is 
 that, from time immemorial, horses and mares having unsound hocks have been 
 freely intermated in the Arabian desert. Principal Vet. Surg. Collins, in a paper 
 read by him in 1878 before the United Service Institution of India, cites an instance 
 in which a mare whose off fore-cannon bone had been accidentally broken, trans- 
 mitted crooked fore-legs not only to her first foal, but, more or less, to every sub- 
 sequent foal. But the Arabs still have much to learn on subjects of this class. 
 They do not know that certain conformations of the hock favour the development 
 of spavine, and that, apart from the question of whether there exist in horses taints 
 akin to scrofula in man, having for one of their expressions the production of mis- 
 chief in bone, ligament, and cartilage, unsoundnesses of the hock-joint, even when 
 due to accident, may reappear congenitally. Their ignorance of these matters should 
 prevent us from wondering at the prevalence of spavine in their horses. Many years 
 ago we sent an Indian cavalry soldier to Sha-mi-ya to buy pedigree Arabians, and 
 of the three which he brought back, two were spavined. More recently, while 
 residing at Baghdad, we commissioned a dealer of Ku-wait to enter Najd and buy 
 a few Arabs, or even one, of the class described by Palgrave in his book,^ in which 
 we then believed. The best of his selections was a desert celebrity, of many j^ears' 
 standing, with a large bone-spavine. Every year a considerable number of that 
 
 1 In Northern India, spavine is called chap-ia; and 
 in Afghanistan, chak-ka. 
 
 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 7, ch. xii. 
 
176 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. book hi. 
 
 horse's stock had been passing into the Bombay market. This reminds us of how 
 a fine old original, known to a past generation of sportsmen as Haj-ji A'bdu '1 
 Wah-hab, himself a Kurd, but the importer of very many first-class Arabians into 
 India, used to declare that there was no such thing as a spavine, or that if there 
 were, the seat of it was "the doctor's eye." It is true that veterinarians fresh 
 from England, who do not understand the " roughness," as their more experienced 
 brethren term it, of the Arabian's hocks, may see spavines merely in the natural 
 fulness of the bony projections. But knowledge has made such progress in the 
 coffee-houses of the town Arabs since Haj-ji A'bdu '1 VVah-hab's day, that the 
 present race of jam-bazes, instead of disbelieving in spavine, illustrate the Persian 
 proverb that "one who has been stung by a snake shies at a rope," or, as we say, 
 " a scalded child fears cold water," in their anxiety not to overlook it. We 
 have seen a Mosul dealer use a magnifying-glass to help him to compare the out- 
 lines of the two hocks, in a horse which he was examining. Baghdad possesses a 
 family of jam-bazes, the blind and aged father of which, in his day a noted buyer, 
 is always asked, in doubtful cases, to give his progeny the benefit of his sense of 
 feeling. Whether the patriarch's palsied palm and fingers find out all that is 
 expected of them is another matter, but the idea, at least, is excellent. If both 
 hocks present to the touch the same surfaces and inequalities, then, probably, they 
 are perfect.^ Another oriental method of proving a hock is to hold up the limb 
 in a flexed state, after which, if the horse halt on it when it is set down, he is 
 pronounced to be spavined. But before the cleverest of the Arabs, even those 
 who travel as far as Bombay or Cairo, can really know their horses' hocks, educa- 
 tion will have to be introduced among them. In how far spavine interferes with 
 usefulness is a question which is here foreign to us. Probably no two spavines 
 are precisely similar in origin, situation, extent, and consequences. The celebrated 
 Arab plater. Red Hazard, won many races while stiff from spavine. On the 
 other hand, the spavined horse from Najd above alluded to, after galloping 
 several thousands of miles under our \\ stone, in I'-rak, without failing, and subse- 
 quently, in India, keeping sound in the dry hot months, fell so lame from his 
 spavine in the rainy season that he could scarcely walk. Climate or meteorological 
 conditions may tell, it would appear, even on bony exostosis. 
 
 After spavine, one naturally speaks of that other disease of the bony frame- 
 work, splint. All splints are not the same, any. more than all spavines are. A 
 
 1 The hand and the ear are as important witnesses with the other. The late Professor Dick of Edin- 
 
 as the eye when a horse is being examined. Once, at 
 a fair in Northumberland, a blind gipsy was the first 
 to discover that a horse was blind, from no sudden 
 flutter occurring in the heart's action when one hand 
 was laid on it, and a feint was made of hitting him 
 
 burgh, Avhen seated in his room in the Veterinary 
 College, could often tell by the ear alone, on a horse 
 being trotted past in the street below, not only whether 
 he was sound or lame, but, if the latter, the peccant 
 limb, and perhaps the cause of unsoundness. 
 
CHAP. III. THE ARABIAN COMPARED WITH OTHER VARIETIES. 177 
 
 splint close to the knee, — the osselet of the old farriers, — may, or may not, be 
 perceived by the Arabs, but one which is lower down is more apparent. From 
 Mosul to Bussorah, one may hear splint called adhimis sabk — i.e., the bone of 
 outstripping, or bone of speed ; but there is no authority for this ridiculous term. 
 Some wag of a jam-baz must have invented it, as part of a theory that a horse with 
 a splint, or splints, is more valuable than he would be if he were sound !^ No 
 doubt, in a horse of six years old and upwards, whose history is unknown, it is 
 satisfactory that his fore-legs should exhibit symptoms that he has been used ; but 
 such symptoms should not be those of actual disease : and, moreover, idleness, not 
 less than work, may be the " mother of splint." That is, when a horse has been 
 too long in the stable, an awkward gambol may set up inflammation in the soft 
 material which is placed, for a useful purpose, between the splint bones and the 
 cannon, and the result may be the conversion of part of it into bone. The chief 
 cause of splint — namely, concussion in galloping — is, of course, highly operative 
 in the Arabian desert ; but there are special causes, such as the friction of the 
 iron shackles, and the interference of one limb with the other.^ "Splints seldom 
 hurt," writes Mr Day in The Race-Horse in Training; and similarly "Nimrod" 
 stated, in The Veterinarian^ that he had "suffered very little from splint, and 
 never remembered but one horse out of work from that cause." Mr Percival takes 
 the same view in his Hippopathology. " The old notion," he observes, " is still 
 very prevalent among unprofessional people, that splints often lame horses." It 
 is maintained by him that "splint rarely produces lameness."* We dare say not, 
 in England, where a tendency to throw out bony deposits is held more or less to 
 disqualify for the stud, and where, from the first hour of a splint's history, careful 
 notice is bestowed on it. But speaking of the horses which are bred and reared 
 by the Arabs, we can only say that no unsoundness has caused us more disappoint- 
 ment than bone disease of old standing between the knee and the fetlock joints. 
 Especially when the bony knot has been situated too near either end of the cannon, 
 or on its posterior margin, it has proved apt to form a centre of inflammation and 
 disturbance after fast work. Judging from the fact that the jam-bazes will not 
 buy a horse with a splint unless they can get him very cheap, this defect must 
 be pretty generally objected to in foreign markets. 
 
 1 We have never heard the Bad-u call a splint adhniic 
 'j sabk. In the tents of Sha-mi-ya, they say nii- 
 shash, a slight lengthening of the old Arabic word 
 ma-shash, for which there is the classical authority 
 of a verse of Al A'sha. 
 
 2 Once, at Baghdad, a flighty Arab with turned-out 
 toes hit one leg with the other towards the middle of 
 the shank. A bony tumour almost immediately ap- 
 peared, without lameness. This was treated for about 
 
 a year, but it only grew larger. About the same time 
 another Arab, aged, straight-limbed, and a good hack, 
 chanced to throw out a splint. This sphnt, being but 
 small, was left alone, and one day the horse knocked 
 it clean off with the opposite fore-foot, as neatly as 
 with a chisel. 
 
 3 Vol. X. p. 64. 
 
 * Vol. iv. p. 258. 
 
178 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. book hi. 
 
 Ringbone^ is much less common in well-bred Arab horses than in the large 
 and fleshy legged breeds which are devoted to agriculture. The short and upright 
 pasterns which invite it should be avoided, and the tyro must be careful not to 
 mistake harmless rope-marks for it. 
 
 Passing from the bones to the tendons, ctirb, or curve, is the only unsound- 
 ness in regard to which any special features occur in the Arabian breed. It is well 
 known that horses in which the hocks are of a certain shape are predisposed to 
 curb. It further deserves wide publication that this class of hock, the "curby" or 
 " sickle " hock, as it is termed, is so uncommon in Arab horses, that we com- 
 paratively seldom see in them the strain or injury of the sinew at the back of the 
 hind-leg, below the hock-joint, which is called a curb. In 1876-77 we revisited 
 England after a long absence, and one of the things that struck us was what a 
 great start had been made in the United Kingdom towards breeding out those 
 curby hocks, crooked fore-legs, and eye-diseases, which have come down as 
 heirlooms from the days when horse-breeding was a lottery. Agricultural shows 
 and the rejection of unsound animals had begun to connect the breeder's art with 
 science. Perseverance on the same lines is perhaps all that is necessary for the 
 attainment of perfection. We do not presume to say that foreign blood is wanted. 
 Nevertheless in districts where bent hocks, combined with smallness of bone 
 immediately below the hock -joint, are prevalent, the introduction of approved 
 Arabian stallions for the use of the farmers would probably be found beneficial. 
 
 In pursuing our inquiry into the comparative soundness of the Arabian and 
 other breeds, we next come to the Foot. The Arabs appropriately term all the 
 parts of a horse from the knee downward his a-sds, or fotmdatioiis ; the basis of 
 which, of course, is the foot. Different soils, we all know, produce different shapes 
 and kinds of hoof. The ideal foot in the Arabian breed is that which strikes fire "- 
 from the rocky sides of Ja-bal Tu-waik, in Najd. But there are Arabian dis- 
 tricts, such as the lower Euphrates mud-flat, in which feet of the opposite or spread- 
 out pattern, often accompanied by very indifferent action, are prevalent. Between 
 those two extremes, hoofs of many different forms appear ; and the primitive 
 farriery of the Arabs is also a very great factor. The shoer's art lies outside of 
 our proper subject ; but there are certain facts connected with it, as it is practised 
 by the Arabs, which it may be as well to mention. 
 
 On the one hand, life in the open, the absence of roads and of road work, 
 and the freedom of motion which the mares and young stock enjoy even at their 
 pickets, are very favourable circumstances. On the other hand, Arab shoeing 
 certainly does not tend to assist nature. 
 
 '- Bd-sha of the Turkish farriers. I ^ Isa. v. 28. 
 
CHAP. III. THE ARABIAN COMPARED WITH OTHER VARIETIES. 179 
 
 At the outset a fact of some interest has to be noted, and that is, that both 
 the nomadic and the settled Arabs, equally with their Turku-man, Persian, and 
 Afo'han neighbours, are strongly impressed with the necessity of shoeing their 
 horses. An Indian horseman of the old school once observed to us that an unshod 
 horse was no better than a donkey, while a shod one was like a lion ; and evidently 
 the Arabs are of the same opinion. It is true that very many unshod mares, and 
 very many whose shoes have been left on, without a remove, for several months, 
 may be seen in the Bedouin nations ; but this is merely a feature of the general 
 deficiency which characterises these people. Metal, as has elsewhere been noticed, 
 is scarce in the desert ; and the Arabs do not know how to use horn as a substitute 
 for it, like the Icelanders. No Arab of the desert will handle farrier's tools, or 
 marry his daughter to one who does so ; and the inferior people who attach them- 
 selves to the tent-cities as shoeing-smiths are often absent. None the less, the 
 shoeing of the mares is reckoned a most important preparation for Al Ghaz-u. We 
 know that the ancient Arabs, in passing over very rough ground, protected their 
 horses' hoofs with leather thongs ; ^ in the same way that, in similar circumstances, 
 they still protect the soles of the riding-camel with a leathern ndl or sandal. 
 
 The only horse-shoe which the Arabs use is of the pattern on the following page. 
 
 A glance reveals that the oriental nal is no mere rim, but a sheet of metal. 
 Including six nails, it weighs from ten to twelve ounces. A blacksmith makes it, and 
 a farrier buys it and puts it on cold. Thus, there is not so much as a pretence of 
 fitting the shoe to the foot. The farrier, when he has chosen a shoe, proceeds to 
 cut and rasp the foot before him as if it were a piece of wood, to bring it more or 
 less to the form of the iron. There could not be stronger evidence of the natural 
 vigour of the horse's foot, in many Eastern countries, than its power of adapting 
 itself to this treatment. Even in the most sound-footed European horses which 
 possess any claim to speed or breeding, but a small percentage, we rather think, 
 could bear such shoeing. If the iron plate were to be put on tightly, with the 
 nails close together and brought out high up the crust, lameness would follow. If it 
 were to be lightly tacked on, it would soon fall off The shoe of our illustration 
 has this in its favour, that it tends to give the horse a bearing on his whole foot, 
 and not only, or mainly, on his toe ; but the process of preparing the under surface 
 of the hoof for it involves the cutting away of vital parts. The common name with 
 many of the Arabs for the horse's frog is md-ya — an Aryan word meaning matiHx, 
 or essential principle. He who first applied this term to the part in question must 
 have had some idea of its functions. Similar indications are not wantinef in the 
 practice of even the most ignorant of the Arabs. For instance, in the towns, all 
 
 1 The authority for this statement is the third poem in the Di-\van of U'r-wa, ibnu '1 Ward. 
 
i8o 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 horses and mules which work on roads, and even the donkeys of the water-carriers, 
 are shod ; but the ponies which draw water are used with their feet in the natural 
 state, because it is found that otherwise they slip. And in the desert, when the 
 mare is shod, one hind-foot is always left without armature, to give it the firmer hold 
 
 The Asiatic Na'l, or Horse-Shoe. 
 
 of the ground in the wheeling movements of the mel^e. With all this, the drift of 
 the Arabs' farriery is towards the destruction of the foot's natural surface, the frog 
 included, and the substitution of a plate of iron. Hence, when one of their horses 
 casts a shoe, the animal goes as tender as a man who, for the first time, walks out 
 
CHAP. III. THE ARABIAN COMPARED WITH OTHER VARIETIES. i8i 
 
 barefoot. And when a pebble works In at the central opening- in the shoe, it sets 
 the horse a-limping, like the pilgrim with the unboiled peas. 
 
 It follows from all these facts that, notwithstanding the natural soundness both 
 of the horny box and of its sensitive contents, in Arabian horses there is no part 
 which demands more careful scrutiny by the intending purchaser. He who has 
 boueht an Arab colt with flat soles and a brittle crust, will derive no comfort from 
 being informed, when cracks and vacuities ensue, that such defects are rare in 
 Eastern horses.^ 
 
 When a horse is lame in one fore-leg, and the cause is not apparent, stablemen 
 commonly say that he is "shoulder-tied," or " chest -foundered." In the rare 
 instances in which the lameness depends on rheumatism, or on accidental injury 
 of the deeper-seated parts of the shoulder, this opinion may practically be right ; 
 but in nine cases out of ten the foot, and not the shoulder, is the seat of the evil. 
 At least this is the case in England, but it may be doubted if it is equally so in 
 primitive countries. The compactness of the foot in the Arabian breed seems to 
 diminish its tendency to suffer, through sympathy, when inflammation attacks the 
 respiratory or the digestive organs. The old school of veterinarians entered 
 "chest-founder" or "body-founder," as distinguished from "foot-founder," in the 
 list of horse diseases, but we do not know how far their views are now accepted. 
 It is necessary to make allowance for the effects which different ways of treating 
 horses, in different countries and at different periods, produce on their diseases. 
 In Arabia, horses are still liable to be ridden till they drop, by the Bedouin and 
 others. Very often, mares which founder — that is, tumble headlong^ — in Al Ghaz-u, 
 with the lungs or some other important internal organ in a state of acute congestion, 
 die where they fall. Those which recover generally remain, at the best, stiff in 
 their action, with a tendency to fall lame after a longer or shorter course of fast 
 work. This subject is so full of interest to all buyers of Arabians that, trusting 
 to the reader's indulgence, we shall here introduce a little narrative serving to 
 illustrate it. The facts about to be detailed relate to the bay Arabian race-horse 
 whose portrait appears in this chapter. In 1861 the living animal became ours, as 
 a five-year-old, soon after he had been brought from Ku-wait to Bombay by one 
 of the jam-bazes. His price was ^300 down, with certain provisos, which subse- 
 quently increased it to ^500. The cause of its being so hard to buy him was that, 
 although he was as yet untrained and untried, many good judges considered, from 
 his blood and his style of moving, that he might prove, as he actually did, the 
 
 1 The grey Arab racer, Hermit, could not be trained feet were too " shelly " to retain a shoe. The chest- 
 
 during his first two years in India, owing to flat feet. 
 Another very highly bred Arabian, of the same colour, 
 was comparatively useless all his life because his fore- 
 
 nut Arab, Raby, ran in many races with an iron band 
 riveted round a fore-foot in which was a sand crack. 
 
1 82 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. book hi. 
 
 winner of the greatest prize of tlie Bombay turf tiie following season. When we 
 bought him, as also when, long afterwards, his portrait was taken, he was as fat 
 as Shrewsbury brawn, as they say in Shropshire. There was as great a difference 
 between what he looks like in the picture and his appearance when drawn fine by 
 training, as between the block of marble freshly lifted from the quarry and the same 
 piece after the sculptor has chiselled it. At the same time, he was not of that very 
 noble type of the Arabian which people take for their ideal. One consideration 
 which induces us here to present his portrait is, that the reader may see a good 
 game Arab of the class which may fall to the lot of any one. But to our tale. At 
 the time of purchase he was passed sound by a veterinary surgeon. After he had 
 been taken to the Deccan, on his shedding his winter coat, the marks of rowelling 
 became perceptible on his off shoulder. This was startling ; but it only showed 
 that, in some unknown countrj^, he had been considered lame in the part in 
 question. In the course of the summer and autumn he did a sufficient amount 
 of strong work without falling amiss ; and on December 5 was to make his ddbut 
 in a two-mile race, for which a very good Arab plater Avas the favourite. By nature 
 he belonged to what trainers call the craving kind, and ate the more the harder 
 he was worked. Having had it impressed on us early in life that fleshiness is 
 certain to stop a horse in a long race, when the pace is true, we gave him that last 
 gallop which breaks down so many candidates, and for want of which so many 
 others had better have been kept in the stable. He pulled up sound after it ; but 
 when he walked out in the evening — -that is, less than twenty-four hours before the 
 saddling-bell would ring — he was lame on the off fore-leg, with " nothing to be seen." 
 The limb was kept all night in very hot water. In the morning he appeared sound, 
 and in the afternoon won his race. In the course of the next few days he ran four 
 times, and was only once beaten. After the meeting was over, it became necessary 
 to determine whether he should be prepared for his great engagement, the " Dealers' 
 Plate," in Bombay, for which seventy-three Arabs, all of the same year's importation, 
 stood entered. Apparently he walked sound, but a few runs in hand at the trial pace 
 of trotting showed that he was lame on the off fore. A veterinary surgeon of the 
 Royal Artillery, after several examinations, gave the opinion that he had navicular 
 disease; the same "sprain of the coffin-joint," in regard to which the first English- 
 man who wrote about it concluded by observing that "where one horse happens to 
 be really lame in the coffin-joint" (in which the navicular joint is included), "it is 
 mistaken a hundred times in practice." ^ The new light which has been thrown on 
 this subject by later investigators was, of course, before us. Nevertheless, we were 
 presumptuous enough to imagine that, even if the navicular disease was not confined 
 
 1 No Foot, No Horse, &c. &c., by Jeremiah Bridges, I Hippopathology, vol. iv. p. 132. 
 Farrier and Anatomist : 1752. Quoted in Percivall's 1 
 

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CHAP. III. THE ARABIAN COMPARED WITH OTHER VARIETIES. 183 
 
 to Europe, our veterinary adviser might have made a mistake in this particular 
 instance. Accordingly, the horse was started off to Bombay, a journey then in- 
 volving a march of two hundred miles in order to reach the railway. On our fol- 
 lowing soon afterwards, we had the pleasure of seeing him win from six competitors, 
 on the 4th of February 1862, the then blue ribbon of the Indian turf, as well as 
 another considerable race of the same meeting. All that time his state remained 
 just what it was at the beginning, no better and no worse. A cynic of the turf 
 to whom we showed him said that he was " lame in his head " ! For once, horse- 
 flesh had fulfilled the prophetic saying. The palma nobilis had been found knotted 
 in the forelocks of a Ku-hai-lan.^ The next thing was to get the good and true 
 horse restored to soundness. With this object, he was taken to the most experi- 
 enced veterinary surgeon then in India, whose opinion was as follows : " Lame 
 in both fore-legs ; slight ossific deposit round off pastern, with inflammation : not 
 likely to be ring-bone, or, in other words, the result of causes generally pro- 
 ductive of ring - bone : also has small pointed splint inside upper part of near 
 fore-shank, probably caused by his making too much use of near fore-leg, to save 
 lame off" fore. N.B. — Feet remarkably cool, and withotU a symptom of disease ; 
 suspensory ligament and tendons of the leg perfectly sound." In the face of this 
 record, it was impossible to entertain the idea of calling on the horse for further 
 exertion. When he arrived at his proper home, the splint was found to have 
 become inflamed in the course of nine days of marching. The veterinarian who 
 had first seen him was, as it happened, absent ; and a third member of the pro- 
 fession was therefore consulted. From him opinion number three proceeded, which 
 was that the Arab owner who had inserted rowels in the shoulder had judged 
 correctly; in other words, that this was a case of "chest- founder." We then sent 
 the horse to the author of the " ossific deposit round pastern " theory ; and eight 
 months afterwards received him back, with a note intimating that, though still slightly 
 lame, he was as well as ever he would be. For several years thereafter he led 
 the life of a gentleman retired on an annuity. He saw no more veterinary 
 surgeons, and seldom was asked to carry his master, owing to his "shoulder-tied" 
 condition. At last, in the summer of 1865, having other horses in training, we 
 took the opportunity to give the veteran a further trial. After a few weeks of 
 steady work, he again failed in the same way as before. This time there was 
 considerable tumefaction on the inner surface of the off fore-arm. The highly 
 qualified, but decidedly old-fashioned, veterinary officer of the King's Dragoon 
 Guards, then quartered at Secunderabad, when he examined him, formed substan- 
 tially the same view of the case as the Arabs had done. After a time he heated an 
 
 ^ The generic name, as will in due time appear, of all the pure-bred strains of Arabia. 
 
i84 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. book hi. 
 
 iron, and applied It across the fore-arm. We had never before seen this treatment, 
 but had known many horses which, when brought from Arabia, bore the marks of 
 the firing-iron in the same situation. The object in l^eeping the horse so long idle 
 had partly been to reward him, and partly to give him a chance of becoming sound, 
 and winning further honours. But evidently this was not to be. The poor animal 
 had undergone so much medical and surgical treatment, that he had learned to 
 recognise a doctor as a little boy does a schoolmaster, and all to no purpose. An 
 appointment was therefore found for him in the stud department. 
 
 Long afterwards, the above particulars were recalled to memory on its ap- 
 pearing that, in the opinion equally of the Bedouin and of the town Arabs, the 
 region of the chest is often the seat of acute or chronic lameness. A round course 
 was lately laid out in the desert, near Baghdad, and several of the Osmanli Pashas 
 now amuse themselves by getting up races on it. Their sleek and prancing 
 chargers are, however, invariably beaten by a certain diminutive mare, scarred 
 on the chest and shoulders as if she had been fired with a gridiron, which a Ba- 
 da-wi brings into the town the night before the event, and hurriedly takes away 
 again, for fear of being deprived of her. This mare may have navicular disease, 
 for though no one would call her lame when she is galloping, she walks and trots 
 stiffly ; but of course they who fired her over the fore-quarters did not suspect her 
 feet. Referring to the frequency of marks of firing on the horses of the Bedouin, 
 we may take this opportunity of saying that it is seldom advisable to buy a colt 
 which has been fired. It is true that these people fire their horses, as they also 
 do their children, rather at random. One of their saws is, A-khiru 'd da-wd, el 
 kai, which means. The last of remedies is the scoring, or firing. When all the 
 marks are on the flanks and belly, nothing more serious than an attack of colic 
 may have led to the performance of the operation. In other cases, especially if the 
 animal be aged, and the lines run equally over the trunk and the extremities, the 
 owner may have thus blemished his property as a precaution against the covetous 
 glances of Pashas. But it should not be too much taken for granted that the desert 
 Arab is a mere ignorant fellow. In many respects he is so ; but no human being is 
 cleverer than he is, at once in making the most of his own property and in trans- 
 ferring to himself that of others. To get up early gives one no advantage in dealing 
 with nomads, who never, properly speaking, go to bed at all. We have three times 
 bought from the Aeniza colts which were striped with the firing-iron from the 
 wither downward. They all had the best of feet ; but they had not been long in 
 training when they went amiss in the same manner as the rowelled one of the 
 foregoing history had done. In regard to one of them, we subsequently learned 
 that at the time of the application of the iron, he lay between life and death after 
 having been overridden. The bearing of these observations on our immediate 
 
CHAP. III. THE ARABIAN COMPARED WITH OTHER VARIETIES. 
 
 i8s 
 
 subject is obvious. If, as is possible, the Bedouin fire their horses' chests and 
 shoulders, when attention to the feet would be more germane to the matter, then 
 that tends to modify the view here adopted of the exceptional soundness of the 
 latter part in the Arabian variety. But, subject to the opinion of professional 
 persons, we necessarily, on this point, follow the guidance of the facts which have 
 just been stated from our own experience of Arab horses. 
 
 Durability, in the sense of wearing well and wearing long, is traceable to so 
 many different sources, that only general statements can be made regarding it. 
 Some horses, like some men, last long, owing to the care which they take of them- 
 selves. Even if they have the power, they have not the will to work. Others, 
 in consequence of faults or vices, spend half of their time in being made up for the 
 market. The sort of durability here being spoken of is a totally different quality. 
 It depends less on where, or by what people, a horse is bred, than on Iiozu he is 
 bred. Nature does not confer it, by way of privilege, on one breed more than on 
 another. It is greatly subject to the influence of climate, habit, and mode of 
 rearing. But, speaking broadly, the power of lasting is one of the happiest pro- 
 ducts of what is known as high breedingr-. Give us a horse in which the keen 
 and generous spirit of emulation — Jicr Dials sensible — animates a form perfectly 
 adapted to the tasks demanded of it, and we will take the rest for granted. The 
 Arabian breed remarkably illustrates this favourable combination, but it must not 
 be imagined that it makes all competition halt behind it. Authentic cases of 
 longevity in exported Arab horses might be multiplied till the reader's patience 
 was exhausted.^ But for every such record, an equally notable one might be cited 
 from the history of our own breeds.- Others before us have observed that old age 
 does not necessarily begin in horses so soon as many people imagine. An old 
 writer says that a horse of 5 yrs. is like a man of 20 ; a horse of 10 like a man of 
 40; a horse of 15 like a man of 50 ; a horse of 20 like a man of 60; of 25, like 
 
 ' The late brilliant Commander-in-Chief of the army 
 in India, General Lord Roberts, now rides in the Park 
 in London a grey Arab charger which has carried 
 him in his campaigns and military inspections for 
 more than sixteen years, has never been unfit for 
 duty, and still shows himself off on parade as if he 
 were a four-year-old. We hear of another Eastern 
 evergreen, in the possession of General and Mrs 
 TurnbuU, fonnerly of Calcutta, and now of Brighton, 
 which was brought to England eighteen years ago ; 
 is at least 24 years old, and to all appearance is as 
 young as ever, especially when mounted. 
 
 - Delaberre Blaine, in Outlines of the Veterina>y 
 Art, 4th edit., 1832, p. 39, states that, about a cen- 
 tury ago, three monuments were to be seen at Dul- 
 
 wich of three horses which inhabited the same 
 stable, and which died at 35, 37, and 39 respectively. 
 On the same page there is a reference to a large 
 horse of the Mersey and Irwell Navigation, which 
 was "well known to have been in his sixty-second 
 year when he died." Unless there be a mixing up of 
 the stories, longevity in horses must be traditional at 
 Dulwich. For Blaine's contemporary, Lawrence (v. 
 The Horse, 1829, p. 10), says: "The writer, some ■ 
 years since, saw at Dulwich two geldings, the one 48, 
 the other 54, years of age, both of them capable of 
 performing some light daily labour, the property of 
 his friend, the late E. Brown, Esq., who had both 
 their portraits." 
 
 2 A 
 
1 86 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 one of 70 ; of 30, like one of 80 ; and of 35, like one of 90. Such a scale may not 
 be worth much, but we believe that what makes so many of us buy and use 
 young horses is the commercial idea that a horse of 10, when we would sell him, 
 does not readily find a purchaser. 
 
 There are two theories connected with durability in horses which it may 
 be proper to notice. One is, that Arab horses last the longer because they are 
 neither over-fed nor over- worked before maturity ; and the other, that wearing 
 qualities are to be looked for in foreign breeds in proportion as Arab blood is 
 shared by them. For neither theory does the case admit of being made out. 
 Even if it were to be conceded, for the sake of argument, that the Arabian horse 
 surpasses other horses in hardness, the position which we have all along been 
 maintaining is, that his virtue in this respect is much connected with the fact of 
 his being early accustomed to the saddle. It is not work, but the abuse of it, 
 which ruins young horses. In so far as lasting long on the turf forms a criterion, 
 there never was an Arabian which made a better record than, for example, 
 Fisherman, in England, and the New South Wales horse, Kingcraft. The former, 
 we find, began his public career in 1855 as a two-year-old ; and in that year and the 
 following one faced the starter 114 times, and won sixty-five races. The latter, 
 after being thrice defeated as a two-year-old at Sydney, crossed the sea, and came 
 to the post seven times at Calcutta, Lucknow, and Bombay, as a three-year-old, 
 winning every time. When he retired in 18S1 he had been nine years in training, 
 had contested sixty-eight races, and won forty-six. These hard facts deserve to be 
 considered in connection with the proposals which are sometimes made for the 
 abolition of the ordeal of early training. And the practice of the Arabs, though 
 full of abuses, supports the general conclusion that colts and fillies which are bred 
 for galloping ought to be taught their business as soon as they can carry a light 
 weight.^ In regard to the other point, it surely is an extraordinary assumption 
 that because Arab blood is well fitted to fortify certain other races of horses, it 
 
 1 The fact that Echpse was not raced till five )'ears 
 old is quoted by John Lawrence, in Tlic Horse 
 (1829), as, in part, the secret of his vast powers. 
 The early champions of the Australian turf, also, 
 naturally included horses which began late and yet 
 secured the highest honours. Take, for example, 
 the redoubtable Jorrocks, a light bay gelding with 
 black points, standing only 14 hands 2 inches, whose 
 record is given by Mr Curr. Jorrocks was allowed to 
 ripen in the sequestered township of Mudgee, in New 
 South Wales, unruffled by whip or curry-comb. He 
 was set in his prime to the humble drudgery of stock 
 horse and hack alternately ; and the speed and stout- 
 ness which he exhibited in his vocation, or in occa- 
 
 sional bursts after the bounding denizens of the 
 Australian bush, led to his being put in training. 
 His owner was induced to exchange him for eight 
 heifers, " equivalent to about £\o sterling," and his 
 adventures then began. From 1840 to 1852 he re- 
 mained a favourite of the public. He started eighty- 
 seven times, and won sixty races, reckoning seven 
 walks over. {Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 39, pp. 1 51-164.) 
 We apprehend, however, that there is no longer much 
 chance for amateur race-horses, so to call them, either 
 in England or in Australia. In both countries it is 
 now imperative that the horses which are to excel in 
 running should be trained at an early age. 
 
CHAP. III. THE ARABIAN COMPARED WITH OTHER VARIETIES. 
 
 187 
 
 constitutes the pre-eminent source of stamina. Confining ourselves to well-known 
 breeds, we may here recall as evidence those which once upon a time flourished 
 in India, and to which a slight allusion has already been made.^ It does not 
 concern us here to notice the produce of the studs which the East India Company 
 maintained for the supply of its military requirements. Those establishments, 
 now abolished, turned out fine horses, superior in size to Arabs, and having 
 very good constitutions;'-^ but, practically, such were more English than Indian; 
 and most of them were the results of infinite crossing and recrossing. Our refer- 
 ence is to the indigenous breeds on which the cavalry of the native princes and 
 captains was mounted, throughout the long struggle for the prize of ascendancy 
 between England and the powers and hordes of India. History contains no 
 account of large bodies which moved more rapidly or more incessantly than the 
 resfular horse of the Mahratta armies, and the roaming^ leo'ions of tlie Pindharis. 
 The breeds of horses which those times encouraged died out but slowly. Indeed 
 some may think that they are not even yet extinct, but are merely in abeyance, 
 till the department which the modern Government of India has created for their 
 " improvement " shall disappear in the next great Eastern tournament. But, gener- 
 ally speaking, they now exhibit the characters which are to be looked for in disused 
 and neglected breeds. Those of us who knew the East India Company's " Irregular 
 Cavalry" before the Mutiny, will recognise in the subjoined sketch a stamp of 
 charger which was often to be seen caracoling under a swarthy troop-leader of 
 that period. 
 
 In India there is a vague tradition that from, say, 1820 to 1857, when our 
 best Irregular Cavalry was more or less mounted on horses of the above pattern, 
 the finest breeds owed their lasting powers and general superiority to strains of 
 imported Arab blood which were introduced, early in the centurj^ by the Nizam 
 of Hyderabad in the Deccan and his nobles. This story has a foreign ring ; 
 and even if it be authentic, it can have only a restricted application. Something 
 is known to us of the manners and feelings of the more old-fashioned of the 
 
 1 V. ante, p. 91. 
 
 - The Orient. Sport. Mag. for October 1866 thus 
 describes one of these " stud-bred " horses : " Bomb- 
 proof, a bay stud-bred gelding, foaled in 1843, became 
 the property of an officer of Engineers in 184S, in 
 whose possession he remained until his death, which 
 was caused by an accident, ... on 20th September 
 1866. He was therefore twenty-four years of age. 
 Bombproof served at the siege of Multan ; battle of 
 Gujrat ; pursuit of the Sikhs, under Sir W. Gilbert ; 
 battle on the Hindun (May 1857); Badle ka Sarai ; 
 siege of Delhi ; capture of Lucknow ; a hot weather 
 
 campaign in Oudh and Rohilcund ; and a cold weather 
 campaign in Rohilcund and Oudh. To narrate his 
 performances in getting over long distances, and his 
 apparently perfect indifference to regular feeding 
 (generally deemed so necessary to stud-breds in 
 particular), would certainly tax the patience and 
 belief of your readers. I will therefore only say 
 that he commenced the Mutiny campaign in his 
 fifteenth year, and was in constant work, as the only 
 horse of a mounted officer, from May 1S57 to February 
 1859, without being sick or sorry, and was in capital 
 condition at the end of it." 
 
i88 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK. III. 
 
 populations of India, in parts which modern changes have as yet but slightly 
 affected. And we have often perceived among the Rajputs and the Mahrattas 
 the same anxiety to keep pure the blood of a breed of horses which distinguishes 
 the Arabs. In 1859 we served with a regiment which was mounted on mares 
 obtained from the breeders and dealers of Central India and the Deccan. These 
 animals were the property of their riders. The British officers of the regiment 
 rode Arab chargers. Most of the horsemen were mere rovers, who had bought 
 their mares and arms with money advanced to them by the Government. But 
 
 there were a few who could recount their ancestors ; and one, in particular, rode 
 at the head of his troop a large dun - coloured mare which he regarded as a 
 family heirloom. One day it was proposed to this gallant swordsman that he 
 should mate his noble mare with an equally noble Arabian, the property of the 
 late General W. F. Beatson, of Bashi-bazouk celebrity- — a part of whose special 
 command the regiment formed. At the risk of affronting a singularly irascible 
 General officer, by whom the offer was meant as an act of condescension and 
 favour, the Rajput evaded coming to the point, and the matter dropped. 
 About twenty years afterwards we found ourselves in political charge of the 
 
CHAP. III. THE ARABIAN COMPARED WITH OTHER VARIETIES. 189 
 
 western states of Rajputana. One of these is Mar-war, a part of which, the 
 arid district of Ma-la-ni, is directly under British management. Nominally, 
 Ma-la-ni is watered by the river Lu-ni, but its physical features are almost as 
 severe as those of Sha-mi-ya. As the saying is, blades of steel grow better in it 
 than blades of corn ; and its camel-pasturing clans, of Aryan stock, have traits 
 in common with the Bedouin Arabs. The mares which they breed, and of which 
 they are most tenacious, display the clean muscle, lean head, thin nostril, and large 
 dark eye of the race of Najd. We were, however, assured that the breed owed 
 nothing to crossing, but, on the contrary, had been preserved and handed down 
 unaltered in these pure-blooded Rajput families through centuries of warfare. 
 One or more of our predecessors, it was further stated, had recommended the use 
 of Arabian stallions ; but by means of that passive resistance which now forms the 
 sole defence of the people of India, the unwelcome proposal had been put aside. 
 Such at least were the representations which the Ma-la-ni horse-breeders made to us 
 when we marched over their desert pasture-lands in 1880. Of course it is possible 
 that they were romancing, and that, after all, the beauty and energy of their mares 
 are derived from Arabs. If any reader know that the case is so, we are only too 
 ready to be corrected. 
 
 Character. 
 
 Tractability is intimately bound up with temper, than which there is no more 
 important element of character. It would not be easy to find another breed 
 of horses which is so uniformly distinguished by evenness of temper, gentle- 
 ness, and willingness, as the Arabian ; and the explanation is easy. The force 
 of human companionship in forming the characters of inferior animals has been 
 recognised from antiquity downward. The story of the Seven Sleepers of 
 Ephesus receives in Persian literature the embellishment, that the dog which 
 shared their three hundred and nine years ^ of cave life became a man ! With 
 the Arabs and their horses serving to illustrate this influence, it is unnecessary 
 to fall back on legend. The common representation that the Bedouin and their 
 mares dwell together under one tent-roof belongs to the domain of poetry, but the 
 groundwork of it may be accepted. In the desert, tlie mares and foals and stallions 
 stand day and night before their masters. There are no grooms in our sense. 
 Black slaves keep the ground clean, and the wives and daughters of the tent-folk 
 wait upon the mares. Woman, heaven be praised ! is everywhere merciful and com- 
 passionate ; and romance becomes reality when a drooping mare, or a motherless 
 foal, is taken into the best part of the tent to be nursed. In villages the mare's 
 
 ^ V. Al Kur-an, S. xviii. 24. 
 
190 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. book hi. 
 
 shed is close to the habitation in which the family life proceeds. The result is, that 
 food and fellowship are among the first ideas which are associated in the minds of 
 Arab horses with the human figure. The mares turn as kindly to those around 
 them as " Gustavus " did to Dugald Dalgetty. The youngling takes its cue from the 
 dam, and is not afraid of that with which they are all familiar. The colt which is 
 handled by every one from the first, and ridden as soon as he is strong enough, is 
 sure to prove docile and obedient. It is thus that " nature" forms itself We all 
 know to our cost how prone horses are to practise that which they have learned. 
 One that has run away with his rider only a few times, whether through fear or 
 frolic, or kicked in harness because a strap or a fly fretted him, may escape falling 
 into the habit of doing so ; but the horse which has often done a thing will always 
 do it. The best systems have weak places. It must be admitted that the Arabian 
 breed suffers, among the Bedouin, from over-galloping, and among the agricultural 
 classes, from over- weighting, before the bones and joints are set. In this way, prob- 
 ably, is produced the ungraceful, but not necessarily detrimental, turning in of the 
 hocks,^ with or without deviation of the fore-legs also from their proper relative posi- 
 tion, which is so prevalent. But almost anything is better than letting a young 
 horse grow up unmastered, so that he must be what is called " broken " on the 
 wheel of the " rough-rider," after he has become strong and wilful. Even when 
 full allowance is made for the advantages of early tuition, Arab men deserve some 
 credit for the fine temper of Arab horses. The most patient colt may learn to 
 resist his rider, if either his anger be excited or too much of his own way be given 
 to him. A little incident which we lately witnessed in a crowded thoroughfare in 
 Baghdad may here be worth introducing. An awkward groom had tumbled off the 
 back of a playful filly, and left her free to career hither and thither. Among the 
 spectators there was nobody who blamed the filly. A red-bearded Persian, whose 
 book-stall was kicked into the Tigris by her, had the sense to curse the biped and 
 not the quadruped. When she was caught, and the end of her halter-rope was put 
 into the groom's hand by a bystander, the man merely jumped on her back and rode 
 quietly away. The Arabs lose their temper with one another, and are both rude 
 and violent ; but they think it absurd to burst into a passion with irrational creatures. 
 One of the few so-called vicious horses ever owned by us was an Arab plater, which 
 had been cruelly flogged in his races. At first it was impossible to please him ; and 
 if any one who was dressed like his late Persian jockey came in sight, he would 
 rush open-mouthed at him. After about a year, notwithstanding his being kept in 
 training, the evil spirit left him, apart from any special treatment beyond the 
 potent magic of kindness. If the other method had been continued, it might 
 
 1 When the horse is said to be " cow-hocked." 
 
CHAP. III. THE ARABIAN COMPARED WITH OTHER VARIETIES. 
 
 191 
 
 have made him into what is called a " born devil." And then, if he had gone to 
 stud, very likely the same crooked temper would have " run in his blood." The 
 hereditary fault of buck-jumping — that is, making both the rider and the saddle 
 fly like shuttlecocks — which forms a great objection to the common kinds of Aus- 
 tralian horses, is understood to originate in a certain violent process of "breaking" 
 to which they are subjected. Perhaps it is scarcely too much to say that there never 
 was what is called a vicious horse without there being a vicious, or, at all events, un- 
 civilised and reckless, man more or less connected with it. When we see any one 
 beating, or roaring at, a horse, every time that he shies or stumbles, or unmercifully 
 punishing him in a race, we always wish that he could be changed into a Yahoo. 
 
 Tractability and temper having thus been taken together, let us pass to " abste- 
 miousness " ; alongside of which the same writer might have mentioned fortitude. 
 Both these virtues are made in the same mould. One is, the power oi going without ; 
 and the other, the power of iievei'- minding. The reader has seen how the Arab of 
 the desert can both feast and fast, and how his mare can do so with him. Sa'-di says, 
 that to Jieat the oven of the stomach every niimUe, is to suffer for it in the day of want ; 
 but such an idea is too literary for the Arabs. Since beginning this chapter, we 
 have been present at a supper among the Bedouin, when the leader of a successful 
 foray was feasting his companions. There was only one dish, a vast wooden 
 trencher, as black, from never being washed, as the mouth of a coal-pit. In it was 
 served a camel, hacked in pieces, boiled to rags, and piled on a heap of dingy rice.^ 
 The " heads of families," a phrase which among the Arabs does not include women, 
 were gathered round this, three or four deep. The mess was smoking hot, but the 
 Bedouin manners do not permit any one to hesitate on this account. The same 
 desert code which binds the host to fill the platter, obliges the guest to do immediate 
 justice to it. Certainly no delay occurred on this occasion. Rows of brawny rio-ht 
 arms, bared to above the elbow, kept making play into and out of the layers of rice 
 and camel. As one man after another retired wiping his fingers ^ on his cloak or on 
 the tent wall, others succeeded. In a short time only the ddbris remained in the 
 platter, which was then carried out by the African servants. For a long time pre- 
 viously, nothing more substantial than dates and dried milk, or wheat porridge, had 
 come in the way of these people. Whether a healthy man shall require one meal 
 a-day, or three meals, more or less depends on habit. It is said very truly that " half 
 the good of a horse goes in at his mouth ; " but then we must remember that 
 "forcing" disturbs nature's balance. In order to send a horse to the three-year-old 
 
 ' The Bedouin term for this piece dc resistance is, 
 iallu V lahm, or mound of flesh. 
 
 - The Arabs call the fingers of the right hand Al 
 Khain-sa--\.<t., par ex'cellence, The Five, by means of 
 
 which the food is conveyed to the mouth. The first 
 time that a Ba-da-wi sees a Frank dining, he wonders 
 if he have a leprosy in his fingers, so that he cannot 
 eat with them ! 
 
192 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Starting-post as fully furnished as colts of that age are in England, as much " forc- 
 ing " is requisite as for the bringing out of a John Stuart Mill in our species. The 
 point here is, that horses which have lived luxuriously in racing-stables, no matter 
 what their breed is, cannot, as a rule, be expected to endure privations, as well as 
 those do which have experienced hard times from foalhood upward, owing to the 
 poor circumstances of their owners. 
 
 On the march to Magdala six horses stood before our bell-tent. One 
 was a daughter of Kingston, which had won races both in England and India. 
 Another was the Bengal-bred plater Verdant Green, ^ whose sire was an Arab, and 
 his dam an imported thoroughbred English mare. Two were Arabs ; and two were 
 ponies, one Indian and the other Abyssinian. The two last lived on what the 
 others left, or on what they would not eat, and performed far more than their own 
 share of work. The Indian pony, in particular, whose scarred back and turned-in 
 hocks betokened early familiarity with the burden, carried us many a march lasting 
 from sunrise to sunset, and improved in condition all the time. Fortitude is as 
 marked a characteristic of the Arabian breed as frugality. In the days when 
 most veterinary surgeons were partial to strong measures, we have seen many a 
 poor broken-down Arab racer fired and blistered on both fore-legs at once, but 
 never one which refused his nose-bag after the operation. Horses of European 
 breeding are generally less patient. We know of a case in India in which a 
 thoroughbred English colt so banged himself about from mingled rage and pain, 
 after being blistered, that it became necessary to destroy him. The way in which 
 the Arabian will pass through strangles, or catarrh and influenza, without losing his 
 natural spirit and gaiety, is one of his characteristics. As a racer he is indomitable. 
 Heats are his forte ; and he will run two or more races in one afternoon. On the 
 13th of February 1862, In a two-mile cup race at Calcutta, the grey Arab Hermit, 
 though defeated by the thoroughbred English mare Voltige, gave Voltigeur's 
 daughter such a stretching, that the following day, when the two were to have met 
 again in a two-mile race, the mare had to be kept at home, and the Arab proved the 
 winner, in the excellent time of 3 minutes and 5 1 seconds. Many a staunch Arab 
 plater could be mentioned whose doughty deeds have been performed after he 
 has more or less broken down. It is but seldom that a horse can be kept in 
 training when the flexor tendons are permanently damaged ; but many an Arab 
 racer has continued, year after year, to add to his laurels, in spite of a thickened 
 
 1 When the expedition broke up at ZuUa, a York- 
 shireman bought Verdant. Afterwards, merely on 
 the ground that he had " come from some place far 
 abroad," they exhibited him at Islington as an Ara- 
 bian. We wonder how many, besides him, of the so- 
 
 called Arabs which have at different periods been 
 used by our countrymen for stud purposes, owed their 
 superiority to English .ancestry. Verdant's show- 
 name in England was Magdala. 
 
CHAP. III. THE ARABIAN COMPARED WITH OTHER VARIETIES. 193 
 
 suspensory ligament. Not to speak too exclusively of racing, fifty-three years 
 ago Captain Home, of the Horse Artillery, undertook to ride his grey Arab horse, 
 Jumping Jimmy, 400 miles in 5 days, and accomplished the feat on the Bangalore 
 race-course, before crowds of spectators, with 3 hours and 5 minutes in hand. 
 Detailed accounts of this performance may be read in the Bengal Sporting 
 Magasine of 1840. The feature which distinguishes it from the recent trials of 
 equine endurance in Germany is, that Jumping Jimmy showed no signs of distress 
 either during or after his exertions. At the end of the final lap of 79 miles, 5 
 furlongs, and 30 yards, which was done in 19 hours and 55 minutes, the gallant 
 grey was as ready as ever for his corn. Any strong man can override a horse, 
 and in so doing make a record which at first sight shall seem extraordinary. To 
 constitute a true test, it ought to be provided that the horses shall be so selected, 
 and so brought to condition, as well as so ridden and cared for during the trial, as 
 that they shall neither suffer misery nor be rendered inefficient. Horsemanship 
 should always be associated with humanity. 
 
 Some are of opinion that the rough usages of the desert life serve to harden 
 the desert horse. This view pleasantly or unpleasantly revives the traditions of 
 the methods by which ancient Sparta made her young men into heroes. There is, 
 at least, no lack of facts behind it. The Arabian Bedouin are accustomed patiently 
 to endure all the aches which life inflicts on them. So far as can be judged in the 
 absence of statistics, death at a comparatively early age awaits most of them. No- 
 body can expect them to have more pity on their mares than on themselves. As 
 long as a mare can gallop, it little matters whether she is lame or sound. When 
 she breaks down, she is fired. The ragged-coated cripples which we have seen 
 in winter in the Bedouin tent-cities have made us think of the " young noblemen" 
 in Dotheboys Hall. We remember an old mare which had broken down so badly 
 that both her fore-fetlocks touched the ground, and she hobbled along, perfectly 
 happy, on the half-raw surfaces, with a foal at foot. In London she would have 
 fetched just what the cat's-meat-man or the sausage-maker would have bidden for 
 her. On the Euphrates her wrecked condition did not greatly lessen her value. 
 She belonged to a strain of established reputation, and it would have been diffi- 
 cult to buy her. We do not presume to ignore the possibility of all these circum- 
 stances helping to develop fortitude in the Arabian breed — ^just as the rigorous 
 winters of Europe tend to bring out stubborn endurance and other useful qualities 
 in mankind. But, on the whole, according to our experience, at two years old the 
 desert colt may safely be considered to have had enough of his native element. 
 
 " Courage, instinct, and sagacity " are allied virtues. When it is said that a 
 horse has high courage, what is commonly meant is that he is a free-goer, and full 
 of fire and mettle. But here we shall understand by courage the partly natural and 
 
 2 E 
 
194 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. book hi. 
 
 partly acquired character of fearlessness of objects and noises. In every consider- 
 able number of well-bred yearlings, even if they are all from the same sire and dam, 
 some will be found which are naturally courageous, and others which are naturally 
 timid. One of the former class can easily be persuaded to go up to new and 
 threatening objects. One of the latter kind will struggle hard to keep clear of 
 everything which is strange to him. But while this essential difference in different 
 horses is admitted, the influence of education also claims recognition. Timidity 
 arising from defective vision belongs to the province of the veterinary surgeon. 
 The horse which is apprehensive merely through ignorance will show his courage 
 as he grows in knowledge. The constitutionally nervous one will more or less con- 
 tinue to be so, though he will improve with every year of gentle treatment. Fol- 
 lowing the manner of story-books, we shall here illustrate our remarks by means of 
 a few histories drawn from real life. Of all our horses, the one most deserving to 
 be named for courage was equally pre-eminent in sagacity. He was not an 
 Arabian, and still less one of the inanimate kind, fearing nothing because feeling 
 nothing, but one in whom the flutter of a sparrow's wing sufficed to kindle the 
 fire of equine energy which he inherited from Voltigeur. Captain White, as his 
 name was, had not been long in India when one day he chanced to meet, on a 
 bridofe, the larsfest of all surviving terrestrial animals, bowlingf along^ with a howdah 
 on its back. He was so far from showing any signs of alarm, that he actually 
 tucked up a hind-leg to keep it out of the elephant's way in passing. Shortly after 
 that occurrence, the honest yokel who had brought him out from Yorkshire obtained 
 leave to go to a race-meeting. The horse then quickly realised that he was master 
 of the situation. On finding himself regarded by the Indians as a kind of Sa-hib,^ 
 or imperial foreigner, he was seized with the humour of keeping the dusky stable- 
 men at a respectful distance. He carried out this little play so perfectly, without, 
 however, doing any one the smallest injury, that nobody could take him out of his 
 box. His friend the Yorkshireman had therefore to be recalled. His first act, 
 after his return, was to march up to his favourite with a bamboo in his hand, lay 
 hold of him by the tail, and give him a couple of whacks along the ribs. This 
 discipline was received with every sign of penitence, and the next minute any little 
 boy might have put a bridle on him. He who thinks that there is no virtue in the 
 stick should come and reside for a time in the land where these pages are written. 
 To make it descend, like the rain, on the just and the unjust, is good neither for the 
 giver nor the receiver. But applied at the right time, in the right quantity, and 
 in the right cases, the bamboo corrects the transgressor as nothing else does, 
 and the weight of it falls exclusively on the proper person. Next let us give 
 
 1 V. Index I. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 THE ARABIAN GOBI PARED WITH OTHER VARIETIES. 
 
 195 
 
 two instances in which courage, when at first deficient, was developed through 
 experience. A few months ago we received two colts for both of which Baghdad 
 contained many new objects. One of them, a son of the great Chester, was 
 bred in the Sydney district, and the other in Najd. The former, when he saw 
 a camel, especially one that was couchant and braying, would bound to one side, 
 and place a good many yards of the desert between him and it. The latter, while 
 meeting the splay-footed ruminant as an old messmate, would jump like a deer 
 rather than put his foot in the shallowest rill or glittering piece of water. Both 
 these animals gradually ceased to be frightened at objects which did not injure 
 them. The first experience which made the son of Chester look a camel in the face, 
 was when he observed one of his own species eating from the same manger as the 
 long-necked monster. After some time he would do the same thing himself The 
 second example is brought in to illustrate constitutional nervousness. It relates 
 to a horse from Najd which, after beginning life in India as a cavalry charger, made 
 his mark as a racer. The sound of a piece of paper being opened by the man on 
 his back would set him all in a flutter. He was most apprehensive of strangers ; 
 and if even his master tried to mount him in an unfamiliar uniform, he would 
 struggle to get away from him. His suspicions generally were unfounded. It was 
 no easy matter to make him face a harmless carriage ; but when firmly handled, and 
 pressed with both spurs at the right moment and in the right place,^ he would 
 bring his rider handsomely alongside of a running boar. 
 
 The only conclusion we can come to, in view of all these facts, is, that Arab 
 horses possess no advantages over other horses in the qualities now under notice.- 
 
 1 A remark is suggested by this casual reference to 
 spurs and spurring. The best modern authorities 
 justly protest against the abuse of the last resource 
 of horsemen. It is pitiful to see a man who cannot 
 ride, and whose feats are necessarily confined to a 
 beaten track, appear in spurs. If he were going for a 
 walk, it would not matter, for then he would only cut 
 his boots. But it is to be dreaded that, before his 
 return, he will have lacerated his horse, and, if he 
 should chance to tumble off, scored his brand-new 
 saddle. It may be doubted how far it is advisable, 
 even for tirst-rate riders, to arm their heels, as a mere 
 point of dress, on all occasions. A good horse will do 
 his best without having his sides wounded. When 
 he flinches, either he is not properly asked or he dis- 
 trusts himself Nevertheless, the spur has many uses, 
 of which he who understands them certainly ought to 
 avail himself. 
 
 - If a graduated scale wei'e to be made, showing 
 approximately the order in which our more or less 
 educated fellow-animals rank in point of intellectual 
 
 capabilities, the horse would not stand at the top of it. 
 His head is large, but its characteristic form is due 
 to the development of the masticating apparatus at 
 the expense of the brain-case, which, with the brain it- 
 self, is extremely reduced in size. A number of horses 
 will contentedly remain confined in a field ; but if a 
 donkey be introduced, he will probably open the gate 
 and march out, with the whole party in rear of him ! 
 Could anything be more stupid than the habit which 
 horses have, when in camp, of rolling on the ground, 
 no matter how cold the night may be, till their cloth- 
 ing is stripped off? Contrast with this the good sense 
 of the elephant, which, when standing at his pickets, 
 may be seen pulling branches from a tree and driving 
 off the flies with them. It is just now going the round 
 of the Indian newspapers, that a Commissariat ele- 
 phant which was accustomed to receive its supper 
 in twelve cakes, on one occasion when only eleven 
 cakes were produced, refused to touch them till 
 the proper number was brought ! We cannot vouch 
 for the truth of this anecdote. But in campaigns in 
 
ig6 
 
 GENERAL VIE IV OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 In respect of sagacity, and of the courage which is derived from it, the desert breed 
 has kept pace, within its own Hmits, with the intelligence of the people who have 
 made it — and that is all. It ma}' be that the Arabs are behind several other 
 Asiatic peoples as teachers of young horses ; but their quiet and rational way of 
 managing them goes far to make up for this. They talk to their four-footed ser- 
 vants as if they were human beings.^ They lead their flocks and herds, more than 
 they drive them. Even their laden camels are left free to march in droves, instead 
 of being tied, every one by its nose-rope, to the tail of another, according to the 
 practice, which causes so many wounds, and adds so much to the mortality, in Indian 
 transport-trains. The traveller between Baghdad and the Caspian straps his two 
 portmanteaus across the back of a galloping post-horse, which, without being led or 
 ridden, instantly sets off with them ; and but for an occasional tumble, necessitating 
 his being pulled out by the tail from under them, gallantly shows the way to the 
 next station. 
 
 So far, the bat of description, as the Persians say, has, on the whole, been hit- 
 ting the ball of superiority towards the goal of the Arabian breed, and away from 
 that of its European rivals. More strokes remain to be given ; but this is a good 
 place to break off. 
 
 India, when elephants were used to level deserted vil- 
 lages, they were always most careful not to apply the 
 skull to a piece of wall without first ascertaining that 
 no living object was behind it. Students of the 
 development theory should observe the fact, that of 
 the two species of animals the tuition of which dates 
 from the remotest ages — namely, the elephant and 
 the camel — the former is perhaps the wisest, and 
 the latter one of the silliest, of beasts. 
 
 1 In India we adopted this practice to the extent of 
 teaching eveiy coach-horse to come to the walk or the 
 halt at the word of command. Long ago English 
 coachmen freely used the voice, but now even a whistle 
 from the box is disapproved of. Nevertheless, con- 
 sidering how commonly the propensity to run away 
 proceeds from fear, it is a great advantage, when only 
 one or two horses in a team are seized with a panic, 
 to be able thus to stop the others. 
 
197 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DEFECTS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 THE fault which is most commonly found with Arab horses is that they are 
 too small. 
 
 In one sense size is but a secondary character. The town Arabs admire large 
 animals, and the Turks think that a Pasha ought to be like an elephant. But the 
 Bedouin Arab knows better, and when he sees a Goliath, will want to know if 
 he have a great heart. 
 
 As a matter of course, inferiority in size bears against a breed of horses. On 
 the race-course a first-class little one may defeat a second-rate big one ; ^ but the 
 horse of full and symmetrical development, whose heart or courage is true, easily 
 strides away from an equally good little one. For ordinary riding, burly long- 
 limbed men prefer horses which can not only carry them, but which look and step 
 and feel as if they could do so. 
 
 Admiral Rous, in support of the contention that in 1 70 years the thoroughbred 
 English horse has been improved one-eighth in power, speed, and stature, cited 
 Stockwell, Knowsley, Rataplan, Thormanby, and King Tom as horses which could 
 have carried 16 stone to hounds, and could stand up under more weight than any 
 London dray-horse. The latter fact, if, as we assume it to be, fully verified, is 
 very remarkable ; and the power which the compact little Arabian possesses to 
 carry a heavy man both far and fast is equally so. Her Majesty's 17th Lancers 
 rode Arab horses in the Indian Mutiny campaign. We imagine that there are few 
 of the survivors, from the gallant Sir W. Gordon downward, who, if they had to 
 perform the same work again, would not desire to receive back from shadowland 
 the well-bred thick-set horses of medium stature which then carried them. The 
 
 1 In India horses under 14 hands may often be seen finishing in front of Walers and others a hand or 
 more taller. 
 
198 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 late Captain Nolan's book on cavalry contains an account of a Persian ^ troop-horse 
 which, though only 14 hands and 3 inches high, was ridden throughout an 800-mile 
 march in India by a private of the i8th Hussars, who weighed, with his accoutre- 
 ments, 22^ stone! At the crossing of the Kistna — a broad, rapid, and dangerous 
 river — his rider, it is stated, scorned the ferry-boat; and, declaring that "a hussar 
 and his horse should never part company " — what the latter said to that is not 
 narrated — gallantly stemmed the current in heavy marching order. 
 
 Sometimes it is said that the Arabian horse cannot or will not trot, and some- 
 times that he does not jump; but these are random statements. Trotting tends to 
 uncover, or perhaps even to rub off, the brown skin of the unbreeched Bedouin 
 horseman. It forms, we know, one of the three natural paces of the horse, but the 
 Arabs do not cultivate it. The desert mare springs all at once from the halt or 
 walk into a free-and-easy hand-gallop, which is too disconnected to be properly 
 called a canter. 
 
 As for leaping, one may cross many a league of the pathless desert without 
 the crystal stream, far less walls or rails, or even a dry ditch, appearing. When, 
 however, the Arab horse is taken elsewhere and schooled, his thorough willingness 
 may carry him over fences which larger animals are refusing through roguery or 
 stubbornness. In India we once saw a field of Australian horses in a steeplechase 
 completely stopped by what they had to encounter. Some fell ; others would only 
 jump what they thought proper ; and not one ever passed the judge's box. After- 
 wards, when their owners were protesting against the course, a battery sergeant- 
 major of the Hyderabad Contingent, who happened to be present on his regimental 
 horse, an Arab Galloway, rode him over every obstacle. 
 
 It is less easy to defend the Arabian from the charge of being a careless walker, 
 and therefore not a good hack. His more thoroughgoing admirers undertake to 
 do so, but they are in the minority. Of course, the exceptions are not infrequent. 
 Thus Colonel Bower, who owned the famous racing Arab, Child of the Islands, says 
 that, although he was a '• daisy-cutter," he had been ridden over the roughest ground, 
 and had never been detected in a trip. " A pleasanter, safer hack," it is added, 
 " could not be." ^ But occasional instances like this only bear on individual horses. 
 
 To perceive the difference between the movements of an Arab horse's fore- 
 feet and those of an approved English pleasure-horse, one should first stand behind 
 
 ' Persia possesses, so far as we can see, no well- 
 established breed of the blood-horse, except, possibly, 
 in a few princely families ; and then, too generally, 
 the owner's death is followed by the dispersion or 
 the neglect of his brood-mares. A " Persian horse " 
 may be by sire or dam, or both, an Arabian ; or he 
 may be a Turku-ma-ni. Far more commonly he 
 
 merely is a ka-dish or a ya-bti. 
 
 "' Quoted in Stonehenge's Book of the Horse, p. 21. 
 The Child of the Islands (1846-49) was a dark bay, 
 with black points, slight but muscular in figure — that 
 is, possessing good substance without weight. He 
 stood 14 hands 2X inches. 
 
CHAP. IV. DEFECTS OF THE ARABIAN. 199 
 
 the two animals while they are carrying their riders at a walk over a dusty road. 
 The scientifically bred one, it will be noticed, disturbs the surface no more in 
 setting down than in picking up a foot. The Arab, on the contrary, stirs up 
 the dust with his fore-feet. His fore-hand, instead of being carried well forward, 
 appears to find a difficulty in getting out of the way of his hind-quarters. Next 
 observe the Arab horse while he is trotting. However well he may have been 
 taught, his action at this pace has an undeveloped character. His is not the musi- 
 cal trot of the accomplished English stepper, the very sound of which goes bail 
 for him that he will not fall. It is not that Arab horses are unsafe. Apart from 
 accidents, we owe them only about six falls in thirty years. Their power of righting 
 themselves in a twinkling after a false step, so as not to make a downright stumble, 
 commands admiration. It depends partly on constant practice, and partly on their 
 pluck and springiness. But there are worse things than falls. Many a time when an 
 Arab hack has been sprawling along, and scraping the road at every rough place 
 with a fore-foot, so that occasionally the reins would be jerked over his ears, we 
 have wished that he would fall and be done with it.-^ If it had merely been that 
 the Arabian abroad, shod after a novel fashion, and played on, like Hamlet, by those 
 who " do not know his stops," was addicted to tripping, who could have wondered ? 
 But it must be admitted that in his native country also he trips at a walk — the pace 
 of all others at which a horse ridden for health or pleasure should be faultless. At 
 first sight it seems extraordinary that a whole race of horses should thus be charac- 
 terised by an unmethodical style of marching ; but the facts which have been stated 
 in other contexts - about the shortcomings of the Bedouin, equally as horse-breeders 
 and as riders, sufficiently explain it. 
 
 If any one were to ask a dog why, before he lay down, he turned round and 
 round, he might think it enough to answer, with a faulty logic not unknown in 
 higher circles, that he always did so. Perhaps the Arab horse might offer the same 
 explanation of his habit of tripping. But, according to some authorities, a trans- 
 mitted cause is to be recognised in both cases, — in the dog, the instinct of making 
 a place for himself, and clearing it of roughness ; and in the horse, peculiarities 
 which are bred in him. Not to mention such obvious causes as want of condition, 
 a saddle-horse may be an awkward walker, because naturally a sluggard ; or because 
 he is badly shaped, or has chronic disease of the feet or shoulders, or is over- 
 weighted, or has not been properly educated. If the bodily framework be the 
 machinery, temperament is the steam. Many splendid Arabs, as well as many 
 thoroughbred English horses,^ while showing their high breeding by a distinguished 
 
 ^ It is not meant that this description is appUcable 
 to most Arabs, far less to all of them. It puts the 
 case at the strongest, and we have owned but one of 
 
 the breed which it fitted. 
 
 ^ V. ante, pp. 138 et 139. 
 
 ^ For example. Touchstone " was very lazy at exer- 
 
200 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Style of walking, have been sleepy movers till their blood was warmed. Such 
 never can be clever hacks. When not born racers, their proper part is to gallop as 
 leaders in a pleasure-coach. Conformation carries us back to what has been stated 
 on the subject of the Arab's thinking so much more of blood than of figure.^ When 
 a horse that turns out his toes walks clumsily, the fault lies with the people who 
 will use a sire or a mare with twisted ankles. We shall speak further on of the 
 Arabian's shoulders. But having mentioned crooked fore-legs, let us here say 
 that this malformation is perhaps spreading in the horse-stock of the Arabs. In 
 the days when almost the only Arab horses seen by us were those which the dealers 
 brought to India, the prevalence among them of twisted fore-legs seemed surprising. 
 Subsequently, on becoming acquainted with the Arabs, and observing how many 
 crooked-legged horses they rear, we were more- inclined to compliment the importers 
 on their being able to find so many straight ones. Among the dlite of the desert 
 stallions, one may meet with horses whose fore-legs are like this : — ■ 
 
 AS-DAF. 
 
 In twenty years we have not seen as many " pigeon-toed " Arab horses — that is, 
 those having the fore -feet, one or both, twisted inward — as we have seen in one 
 year of the opposite or "dancing-master" variety. Opinions differ as to which 
 fault the more interferes with true action. The proper way to settle the question 
 
 cise, and could hardly be kicked along." — Portraits 
 of Celebrated Race-Horses, by T. H. Taunton, M.A., 
 
 vol. iii. p. 158. 
 1 V. ante, p. 138. 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 DEFECTS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 20 1 
 
 is to buy only straight-limbed ones. When a horse is a proved racer, or a 
 brilhant and accompHshed hunter, his "iDoints" may be disregarded. But we 
 would here say to every young horseman, and especially every soldier, If you will 
 make it a rule never to choose, as a charger or a remount, a horse that turns out, 
 or in, his toes, or one of them, in any considerable degree, many griefs will be 
 saved to you ; unless, indeed, you resemble the Bedouin in their indifference to all 
 such trifles as stumbling and interfering, or are content to have your horses look 
 like posters, with boots strapped round their fetlocks, to save them from coming in 
 after a march raw and bloody from cutting. 
 
 Shoe turned up at Toe. (Ground surface. ) 
 
 In India, our best cavalry officers, both of the combatant and veterinary 
 branches, have sought for means of improving the defective action of the fore- 
 hand in the Arabian. Their efforts have chiefly resulted in the invention of 
 new kinds of horse-shoes. Many years ago, Lieut.-CoL, now General Sir F., 
 Fitzwygram, when commanding the Inniskilling Dragoons at Poona, recom- 
 mended a shoe of the above form.^ 
 
 ' V. Notes on Shoeing Horses, hylAeMt.-CoX.T'itzwygxam. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1S61. 
 
 2 C 
 
202 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 The " turned-up shoe " was closely connected with the idea that the straight 
 toe causes horses to trip. It proceeded on the principle that new fore-shoes ought 
 to be shaped like the old and worn ones, so as to make the wear and tear nearly 
 even all over the foot. Twenty years or so later, Veterinary Lieut.-Col. Hallen, 
 CLE., now Inspector-General of the Civil Veterinary Department in India, in- 
 vented a shoe to which he gave the name of "Central."^ Its rationale wdiS, that 
 as only the " quarters " require protection, the toe, frog, bars, and heel may be 
 safely left to shape themselves through friction with the ground. Its design will 
 appear from the following diagram : — 
 
 " Central " Horse-Shoe. 
 
 About two years after the birth of the " Central Shoe," an anonymous inventor 
 recommended, as a " great improvement on the ordinary shoe, and also on the 
 'Central Shoe' advocated by Mr Hallen," one which is depicted opposite.^ 
 
 We have tried the above novelties on Arab horses which were addicted to 
 " toeing." A great objection to all such contrivances is that ordinary workmen can- 
 not do justice to them. In India, where the European method of shoeing is estab- 
 
 1 V. " Notes regarding a New Horse-Shoe," by J. 
 H. B. Hallen, Esq., in Journal of the United Service 
 
 Institute of India, September 1880. 
 
 2 V. Asian Newspaper, Calcutta, January 16, 18S3. 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 DEFECTS OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 203 
 
 lished, and every Englishman is a ruler, the horseman who is himself an expert 
 may succeed, with personal supervision, in having effect given to his ideas. But 
 in other oriental lands, every workman regards the traditions of his craft as a 
 part of himself For a long time we endeavoured, at Baghdad, to have our horses 
 shod in the usual English fashion, instead of in the manner described in the 
 preceding chapter. With that object, horse-shoes and nails ^ were procured from 
 
 A Modification of the "Central" Horse-Shoe. 
 
 Bombay ; but the result clearly showed the uselessness of casual efforts to disturb 
 modes of shoeing which prevail in any country. Fancy shoes are at best but 
 palliatives. Flat-footed horses, and those having "castle-hoofs" or "road-scrapers," 
 will always be difficult to shoe. New inventions are unnecessary for hoofs which 
 are made of good material, and are properly shaped and properly set on. It may 
 
 ^ In I'rak, the horse-shoe nails are too brittle to 
 admit of their ends being split and "clinched" after 
 they have come through the crust. The hammered- 
 down parts form clumsy projections, which are always 
 hitting the opposite fetlock. Foreign cavalry and 
 artillery would need to bring with them not only 
 
 farriers but shoes and nails. The bony enlargements 
 resembling small filberts which many Arab horses 
 have at the inner and posterior corner of the fetlock 
 joint, and which often are congenital, attest the pre- 
 valence of cutting, or brushing, in the Arabian 
 variety. 
 
204 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 be said that, outside of Arabia, tlie European buyers of Arab Iiorses have to take 
 them as the jam-bizes bring them. This is true, but it is subject to a limitation. 
 There has long been a demand for large Arabs at Bombay, Constantinople, and 
 other centres ; and to meet this call, upstanding horses, which are more or less 
 Arabs, are now collected in considerable numbers. A similar result would probably 
 be witnessed if foreign buyers. Instead of listening to the talk of the Arab dealers, 
 would follow the same general principles as they do at Tattersall's. Straight 
 shoulders, a bull neck, and crooked fore-legs, are surely as objectionable in Arabs 
 as in other kinds of horses. More will be seen of this view in the sequel. There 
 is just one other point which has to be mentioned in connection with the defects of 
 the Arabian. The purchaser who takes care to buy only properly-shaped colts will 
 find that their faults of action are susceptible of improvement. After he has made 
 his purchase, let him, if he have the necessary leisure, patience, seat, and hands, not 
 begrudge the trouble of teaching that which is to form, perhaps for many years, a 
 part of himself, to play the same tune with all four legs, at the walk, trot, and 
 canter. Above all things, let him be as gentle as he will find his pupil to be. If 
 it be hard on him to have a raw horse under him, it is harder on the horse to be 
 suddenly taken from a nation of light weights, and set to carry perhaps a cavalry 
 major whose riding weight, thanks to a good mess and Indian allowances, exceeds 
 that of two desert Arabs. For the Arabian horse, the " blessings of civilisation " 
 generally consist of over-bitting, over-weighting, and hands of iron. The wonder 
 is, not that the change perplexes him, but that he does not rebel and fall to kick- 
 ing, or, like a horse of which we lately read, lie down in despair.^ 
 
 1 A History of the Horse, by W. C. L. Martin (1845), 
 contains the following anecdote, which, although it 
 can hardly be altogether true, may be partly so : 
 "The late General Pater, a remarkably fat man, pur- 
 chased a charger, which all at once betook itself to 
 lying down whenever the General prepared to get 
 upon his back. Every expedient was tried without 
 success to cure him of the trick ; and the laugh was 
 so much indulged against the General's corpulency, 
 that he found it convenient to dispose of his horse. 
 Upwards of two years had subsequently passed, when 
 General Pater left Madras to inspect one of the fron- 
 tier cantonments. The morning after his arrival, the 
 
 troops were drawn out ; and as he had brought no 
 horses, it was proper to provide for his being suitably 
 mounted, though it was not easy to find a charger 
 equal to his weight. At length an officer resigned to 
 him a powerful horse for the occasion, which was 
 brought out duly caparisoned in front of the line. 
 The General came forth from his tent, and proceeded 
 to mount, but the instant the horse saw him advance 
 he flung himself flat upon the sand, and neither blows 
 nor entreaties could induce him to rise. It was the 
 General's old charger, who from the moment of quit-, 
 ting his service had never once practised the artifice 
 until this second meeting ! " 
 
205 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A SUMMARY. 
 
 I ^HE comparison of the Arab's horse with other people's horses from which 
 J- we are now passing, at least bears out the conclusion that in certain circum- 
 stances, and for certain uses, the Arabian horse stands unrivalled. With all his 
 faults, he is such a horse as can never be produced again. When the ever-widen- 
 ing margin of European unrest and civilisation shall have extended over the deserts 
 of the Bedouin, and the breeds of Najd are as extinct as those which furnished the 
 fields at Olympia and Delphi, the world of soldiers, travellers, and sportsmen will 
 be the poorer. 
 
 The safe position thus attained brings into prominence two familiar questions : — 
 
 Do not the merits of the Arabian breed warrant the anticipation that " a further 
 cross " with it would improve our English blood-stock ? 
 
 And, apart from crossing, is it not a perfectly natural course to transplant 
 Bedouin mares and horses to other countries, with a view to the production of an 
 unmixed Eastern race, under the favouring influence of new conditions, aided by 
 methodical selection ? 
 
 The object proposed in this chapter is to collect and review the salient facts 
 which bear on the above two questions. 
 
 I. — Of the Arab Cross. 
 
 In previous passages we have spoken with some reserve of the beneficial 
 effects of crossing. On the one hand, it has been noticed how, by means of a judi- 
 cious cross, a new breed, combining more or less the good qualities of several 
 breeds, may be founded. On the other hand, the practice of the Arabs has been 
 held to confirm the conclusion that our choice breeds of cattle or of poultry, our won- 
 
2o6 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. book hi. 
 
 derful race-horses, and our endless varieties of high-bred dogs, have been obtained 
 less by crossing and feeding than by pure breeding and the repeated selection of 
 superior specimens. This view will be further illustrated in future chapters. Here 
 we offer but one remark, the soundness of which is little likely to be questioned — 
 viz., that a higher breed can rarely be improved by crosses with an inferior one. 
 No one knows from what quarter Captain Byerly of the Boyne obtained the 
 Eastern horse destined, after King William's Irish wars (1689), to become from 
 a regimental charger the direct ancestor of Herod, Highflyer, Woodpecker, Selim, 
 Sir Peter, Filho da Puta, Bay Middleton, and others ; but it is probable that the 
 foreigner excelled our island mares of that period in those qualities which purity 
 of race develops. In the previous chapter it was held to be possible that there still 
 remained in remote parts of the British Islands neglected kinds of half-hackney, 
 half-agricultural cattle, for the improvement of which it might be advisable to 
 try well-chosen Arabian stallions. Going further, we readily grant that if ever 
 any one bring forward, whether from Asia or Africa, a sufficiently well - bred 
 horse or mare more excellent in any considerable number of those points on 
 which the superiority of a race or of an individual depends than the best speci- 
 mens of the same class now in our possession, then by all means the stranger 
 should be bred from. As, however, most practical men would stop at this point — 
 that is, refuse to mate a noble mare with a stallion of doubtful origin — the utility of 
 the Arab cross in Europe must be held to be dependent on the circumstances in 
 which it is resorted to. Now as to this, let us first state that never in India, 
 Arabia, or any other country, have we seen an Eastern horse which suggested the 
 idea that he was capable of improving the perfected and established breeds of 
 race-horses, hunters, or pleasure-hacks of our islands. No one who knows any- 
 thing about it claims for the Arabian equality in speed or racing form with the 
 descendants of Eclipse. Some indeed go further than the facts justify in the way 
 of disparaging the Arabian as a race-horse. His performances on the Turf have 
 even been spoken of as "wretched exhibitions." Mr Blunt, in one of his writings,^ 
 quotes this description, without rebutting it as decidedly and completely as a 
 reference to the Indian racing calendars would have enabled him to do. He admits 
 that " no Ku-hai-ld7i purchased of the Aeniza, and imported into England, would 
 be likely to run with success against English thoroughbreds, even at the 2 stone 
 4 lb. allowed him in the Goodwood Cup, and over a two-and-a-half-mile course." 
 He would not " recommend speculators to invest their money on him at greater 
 weights, and over a longer distance." In the next sentence he maintains that the 
 
 "The Thoroughbred Horse," in Nineteenth Century, September 1880, pp. 416 and 419. 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 A SUMMARY. 
 
 207 
 
 Arabian " nevertheless is essentially a race-horse, the sire of race-horses, and that 
 his produce, bred in England for a few generations, will be able to hold their own 
 upon the English Turf — perhaps more than their own." Further on in the same 
 article he argues that the explanation of the Arabian horse now proving but little 
 fitted for the arena of the Turf, lies in " the circumstances of his desert breeding." ^ 
 In so far as this means that the desert breed would have yielded swifter race- 
 horses if it had been cultivated by Englishmen for racing, instead of, as is actually 
 the case, by the Bedouin Arabs for Al Ghaz-u, it is incontestable. But if the facts be 
 examined, it will be found that, taking public running in India as the criterion, the 
 Arabian is, for his size, a true race-horse, equally in speed, endurance, and power of 
 carrying weight. It is not that the stock of Najd is not fast, but that the New- 
 market breed is incomparably faster. Over the well-turfed course of Calcutta, 
 Arab horses have, in a few rare instances, accomplished two miles, under about 
 9 stone, in three minutes and forty-five seconds — i.e., at the rate of fifty-six and 
 a quarter seconds for each half mile. To speak of an earlier period, we find the 
 grey Arab Crab, " a large, powerful, but rather coarse horse," and the bay Arab 
 Oranmore, "a handsome, small, slight of make, and very blood-like" one, contesting 
 with one another no fewer than five heats of two miles, carrying 8 stone and 7 lb. 
 
 ^ Mr Blunt thus describes these circumstances : 
 " The desert-bred Arab has had everything from the 
 first against him. Starved before birth, he is generally 
 a puny foal, but is nevertheless weaned at a month 
 old, according to the invariable Bedouin practice. 
 Even during the first month he is not allowed to run 
 with his dam, being kept at the tent-ropes, tied by 
 the near hind-leg above the hock ; nor has he any 
 exercise, unless the tribe be on the march. During 
 the next few months he is fed by the hand on camels' 
 milk, or on such refuse dates as the owner can spare 
 him, or on gathered pasture, if pasture there be. 
 Then in his first autumn he is turned out to shift for 
 himself, shackled, to prevent his being stolen, with 
 heavy iron handcuffs. As a yearling he is like a 
 little half-starved cat, and he only begins to grow in 
 his third spring. Then — it will be in his second if he 
 has been foaled in the autumn — he is mounted, I do 
 not say broke, for he needs no breaking, and, unless 
 he is to be kept as a stallion for the tribe, is sold to 
 the village dealers on the edge of the desert. These 
 put him into their close and filthy stables, where he 
 generally sickens for a while, but then grows fat and 
 sleek, when, after a sufficient training in such circus 
 tricks as the Turks delight in, he is resold at an im- 
 mense profit to some Pasha, Kaim-makam, or Ulema, 
 as the case may be, from whom he finds his way 
 into Frank hands. During all this time he has prob- 
 
 ably had not one fair gallop in his life, and has hardly 
 stretched his legs even in a loose-box, for he is kept 
 hobbled day and night. At six, seven, or eight years 
 old, when all his bones are set to short paces, and he 
 has served maybe sotne seasons at the stud, he is 
 suddenly put by his new owner into training, and 
 disappoints him because he cannot win a common 
 country race against English thoroughbreds. ... It 
 is therefore, I say, difficult to judge, by such perform- 
 ances as we have seen, of all that the Arab is capable 
 of as a race-horse." The fault of all this is, that it 
 includes all the horses of all the Arabs in one de- 
 scription. It has already been shown, and will 
 further appear hereafter, that prior to export almost 
 every Arab horse has a different history. There 
 may be cases in which well-bred horses which have 
 never been galloped are sent to India. Such ani- 
 mals, even when they possess racing form, evince 
 their lack of early advantages by disappointing their 
 admirers for the first year or two of training, and 
 ultimately winning a good race. But these are the 
 exceptions. Most of the Arab horses which have 
 run well in India have come to the post as colts, 
 and must previously have done plenty of work in 
 their native places. The "village dealers on the 
 edge of the desert" are not Turks, and they im- 
 part no " circus tricks " to the horses which they 
 purchase. 
 
2o8 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. BOOK in. 
 
 each, in the Bengal Cup, on the 9th of January 1845. The bay won the first heat, 
 and the grey the third and fifth heats, wliile the second and the fourth were dead 
 heats. In the first heat, strong running was made only for the mile home; and it 
 was run in one minute and fifty-two seconds, and won by a head. In the second 
 heat, again, they made play only for a mile ; and the heat was run in half a second 
 less than the previous one. The third heat, which was won by a neck, was run in 
 three minutes and fifty-six seconds. In the fourth heat, the real racing was confined 
 to the last half mile, which was accomplished in fifty-four seconds. The deciding 
 heat was won by the larger horse — Heenan wearing out Tom Sayers. Many 
 similar instances might be given tending to exhibit the racing qualifications of the 
 Arabian in a very favourable light. It is only when such records are compared 
 with modern Newmarket form ^ that the difference is evident between a com- 
 paratively diminutive horse and one which, owing to his more lengthy stroke, de- 
 rived from his superior size, is able, while galloping within his rate, to keep the 
 other stretched at the extremity of his stride. Long ago, when our countrymen in 
 India lived more than is now the case in a world of their own — which was, on the 
 whole, a very pleasant world — the idea of winning the Goodwood Cup with an Arab 
 horse grew and ripened in many an old-fashioned head. In 1847, when that great 
 race was won by The Hero, carrying 9 stone 6 lb., the best Arab horse of his time 
 in India, the blue-grey Monarch, though "turned loose" at 5 stone 4 lb., was among 
 those which, "panting, toiled after him." Again, in 1861, one of the stoutest and 
 bravest of the desert lineage — Dr Campbell's bay horse Copenhagen, a winner twenty- 
 two times in India — was trained at Newmarket for the same severe two-and-a-half- 
 mile ordeal. An officer of the Indian Irregular Cavalry, who at that time happened 
 to be in England, thus described, in the Oriental Sporting Magazine for September 
 1870, a glimpse which he obtained of this Eastern candidate : — 
 
 " As Copenhagen was then well forward in his preparation, we determined to have a trial, 
 so that I might be able to tell Dr Campbell what I saw. So I got on the filly Farfalla, riding 
 about 10 St. 7 lb., and the lightest of the Sharps on Copenhagen — the latter getting at least 4 st. 
 the best of the weights, not to mention allowance for age. We went the two middle miles ; 
 and the filly, then, I think, only a three-year-old, and by no means a first-class animal, lost him. 
 He could not live with her from the first hundred yards, and the further we went the further 
 the filly cantered away from him. . . . Had Copenhagen started for the Cup, he would have 
 reached the T.Y.C. start-post about the time Tim Whiffler caught the judge's eye." 
 
 If in our day any one were to propose to enter an Arab at Goodwood, his 
 friends would give him their vote and interest for Hanwell. 
 
 ^ E.g.^ two miles and five furlongs in four minutes 
 and ten seconds ; two miles in three minutes and 
 twenty-seven seconds ; one and a half mile (Robert 
 the Devil and Bend Or) in two minutes and thirty- 
 
 nine and a half seconds ; one mile (Brag, in the 
 Brighton Cup) in one minute and thuty-seven and 
 four-fifth seconds. 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 A SUMMARY. 
 
 209 
 
 The claim of the Arabian to be accepted as a sire for hunters, pleasure-hacks, 
 and coach-horses may be dealt with in a similar manner. It is well known how 
 specialised these several groups of horses now are in the British Islands. There 
 are men among us who will write a cheque in four figures for a perfectly satisfactory 
 hunter or park horse, and never ask the former to serve as a hack, or the latter to 
 go out of a walk. No such demand, it is needless to observe, exists within reach of 
 the i\rabs, nor do they know anything of these distinctions. What, we would 
 inquire, has produced the difference, in looks, action, and manners, between the 
 winners of prizes in the blood riding-horse class at our great shows this last half 
 centurj^ and the herds of semi-feral horses which, in Australasia and South America, 
 are boiled down for the sake of their hides and tallow ? Why, what but the selec- 
 tion, generation after generation, of those specimens which most nearly approach an 
 accepted model. And it appears problematical how far kinds which are without a 
 rival in their special business of topping fences and galloping through plough-lands 
 under welter weights, or other kinds which, in harness, suggest the " wings of the 
 winds," admit of being made better, through admixture with strains in which those 
 qualifications are less developed. An old-fashioned Yorkshireman once observed, 
 in India, of our team of Arabs, that they were all very well as toys, but that when 
 he should take to bantam-cock-fighting he would ride and drive Arabs. And truly, 
 who can challenge the abstract superiority of long and free-actioned horses over 
 short ones ? It is indisputable that week after week there are sold at Tattersall's 
 so-called hunters which are more likely than many an Arab pony to hang up their 
 riders in the first big place. But, speaking of the type of hunter which is to be 
 seen in the Shires and elsewhere, something extraordinary must happen before 
 the start-to-finish hunting men of England exchange their great-striding, long- 
 shouldered weight -carriers, whether thoroughbred or what is technically called 
 half-bred, for Arabs or the produce of Arabs. ^ 
 
 1 These observations are wholly general. They are 
 not intended to discredit the records concerning the 
 feats of Arabs, and the produce of Arabs, in English 
 hunting-fields, which have been published. It is 
 needless to say that a great deal depends on the 
 rider. There are men, and women too, who can put 
 steam into a donkey, especially when the hounds are 
 running. Apart from all that, the question is vei-y 
 much one of big horses versus little horses. Accord- 
 ing to " The Druid," one of the past generation of the 
 Childes, of Kinlet, in Shropshire, contrived to beat 
 all Leicestershire on a half-bred Arab. In such 
 cases there is room for doubt on two points. How 
 much of the superiority of the half-bred hunter de- 
 pended on his Eastern, and how much of it on his 
 
 English, ancestry ? And further, will the oriental part 
 of the pedigree stand the test of investigation ? Many 
 years ago, when the fame of Mr C. Davis's reputed 
 half-bred Arab hunter, Hermit, was more talked of in 
 England, over the mahogany, than is probably now 
 the case, a portrait of his dam, the supposed Arabian, 
 was shown to us. To our eye, she was an Indian 
 stud-bred — i.e., practically of English, and possibly 
 thoroughbred English, stock. The account which 
 was given of her, that she had carried a regimental 
 trumpeter in India, hardly bore out the idea that she 
 was an Arab. India is as great a mine of horse-flesh 
 as it is a museum of human races ; and English cav- 
 ali-y regiments, when serving in it, obtain remounts 
 from many different quarters. 
 
 2 D 
 
2IO GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. book hi. 
 
 A question here occurs. Notwithstanding the wide diffusion of Arab horses, 
 or so-called Arab horses, in I'rak and Syria, India, Egypt, and the Western hemi- 
 sphere, is there not some reason to believe that the pure ore of the breed is inacces- 
 sible to foreigners ? Obviously it is idle to compare the Arabian with other varie- 
 ties, if it be left open for any one who pleases to say that the authentic Ku-hai-lan 
 is as unknown, outside of certain inner circles, as the fabled breed of volant Pegasus. 
 Such an idea fascinates minds of the imaginative order, and some of those who 
 have visited Central Arabia have played up to it. So many vague impressions exist 
 on this subject, that it is necessary here to consider it. The chief supporter of the 
 theory that he who has not entered Najd is but little likely to have seen the genuine 
 Najdi horse is Mr W. G. Palgrave, whose book has more than once been quoted 
 in the preceding pages. Several of his own descriptions bear against the position 
 which he takes up on this point. For instance, in Chapter V. he mentions that, 
 when he and his companions were approaching the township of Bu-rai-da, in Najd, 
 they were overtaken by a band of travellers, in which was a " runaway negro con- 
 ducting four horses destined to pass the whole breadth of Arabia, and to be shipped 
 off at Ku-wait, on the Persian Gulf, for Indian sale." The reader is not left to 
 imagine that the man had stolen the horses, though thefts of this nature are not 
 infrequent. The following page discloses that " a rich artisan of [Jabal] Sham- 
 mar had entrusted them to him ; " in connection with which statement the author 
 explains that, although " more than half the export of Arab horses to Bombay 
 passes by the seaport of Ku-wait, . . . the animals themselves are generally 
 from the north of Arabia or the Syrian desert, and of real Arab, though not 
 of Najdian, breed." As to this, we do not know what "real Arab" means, if 
 it do not denote the "Najdian" breed. The same writer makes the following 
 ill-weighed statements in his article " Arabia " in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 
 vol. ii. p. 241 : — 
 
 " Nor is a horse — or, a fortiori, a mare — ever disposed of [in Najd itself] by sale ; gift, 
 war-capture, or legacy being the only recognised methods of transfer where a genuine full-blood 
 is concerned. Consequently, no commercial export of Najdi horses has ever been established ; 
 and whoever professes to sell, or boasts of having bought, one, may be unhesitatingly set down 
 as either deceived or deceiving. In three manners, however — two occasional merely, and one 
 customary — has the Najdi breed been to a certain extent transplanted beyond the actual 
 limits of Arabia. The first of the occasional or chance means ... is, the fortune of war. . . . 
 Secondly, a few thoroughbred Najdis have crossed the frontier as presents ; . . • but mares 
 are never given away thus, only stallions. The third, and customary, method is, by the 
 admixture of the race. Najdi stallions are yearly hired out by their owners, and sent into the 
 pastures of Jabal Shammar, of Syria, and even of Mesopotamia, there to breed with the mares 
 of those countries belonging to the Arabs of Shammar, or the Aeniza, or the Ru-wal-la tribes 
 of Syria and the like. These mares are themselves of Arab though not of Najdi stock, the 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 A SUMMARY. 211 
 
 proportion of good blood varying in them from a half up to three-fourths nearly ; but none are 
 of absolutely pure race. . . . These are the breeds from which European stables, even regal and 
 imperial, have often obtained a supply of noble, but never absolutely pure-blooded, animals ; 
 frequently at prices proportioned to the imagined difficulties of the purchase, or the affected 
 unwillingness of the cunning owner (Arabs are very cunning) to part with his beast. The best 
 market for these mixed breeds is at Baghdad ; the second is in the neighbourhood of the town 
 of Hama, in Syria ; inferior animals are sent to the port of Ku-wait on the Persian Gulf, whence 
 they are shipped for India." 
 
 All this is very misleading. Najd contains too many traders for even the 
 smallest of its valuable products to be tabooed. If there had been no commercial 
 outlet for the several thousands of colts which are foaled every year in the Arab 
 peninsula, their owners would not have known what to do with them. Restricting 
 the view for the moment, with Palgrave, to " chiefs and individuals of considerable 
 wealth and rank," we may fairly allow to Muhammad ibnu 'r Ra-shid, of Jabal 
 Sham-mar, at least five hundred head of mares, for himself and his retinue. Let 
 it be estimated that in every year one hundred of these run empty, while two hun- 
 dred bear colts and two hundred bear fillies. In ten years that would burden him 
 with two thousand consumers of harvests, each more or less requiring attendance, 
 seeing that the ri-jd-jil, or Men, who mount with him, are mare-riders. There is 
 plenty of evidence as to the manner in which overstocking is obviated. Thus it 
 has already appeared how freely both the colts and fillies are utilised in the gift- 
 making process.^ And we can confirm from actual observation the fact stated by 
 Doughty, that the Ha-yil chief is not above recovering a part of the expenses of his 
 establishments by sending batches of colts to India, to be sold there, or perhaps 
 exchanged for Martini- Henry rifles. It is not asserted that the younglings which 
 he thus distributes invariably are of the highest class ; but a few of them must be 
 so, were it only through accident. In the Bombay sale-stables we have seen better 
 colts of the Amir's forwarding than the best of those which have been sent by him 
 in our time as presents to Baghdad Pashas. Not to take further note of person- 
 ages, it is impossible to approach Najd without perceiving that its horse-stock passes 
 out of it through numerous channels. Here, as everywhere, the force of trade acts 
 like a colossal pump. All the nomads in Central Arabia find it as convenient as 
 the Shekh of Jabal Sham-mar does to sell the colts which they do not require. 
 The buying of these, when very young, from the desert-scourers, is a favourite 
 speculation of the oasis-dwellers ; and the best of them ultimately go to India or 
 Egypt. The mares and fillies, as is well known, do not fall into these trade courses, 
 
 1 V. ante, p. 47. 
 
212 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. book hi. 
 
 as the colts do. But it is quite another thing to leap to the conclusions that Najdi 
 mares " are never given away as presents," and that the pastures of Mesopotamia 
 contain no mares which are " of absolutely pure race." Such statements involve an 
 ignoring of the plainest facts ; for example, the fact that hordes of the Bedouin are 
 continually passing between Middle and Northern Arabia. Goers and comers 
 of this description may frequently leave their mares in Najd, but it is impossible 
 to suppose that they invariably do so. And nothing is more certain than that the 
 mare of perfect pedigree, when, with her rider, or as a gift, a booty, or a marriage 
 portion, she is taken out of Najd into Sha-ml-ya, may there find many of her own 
 true kindred which have gone before her. The trade statistics, so to call them, 
 which appear in the above-quoted passage are only fitted to produce wrong impres- 
 sions. A dozen other places are equally entitled with Baghdad and Hama to be 
 considered " the best markets for mixed breeds " of Arabian horses. Every consid- 
 erable town, from the Armenian mountains to the Gulf of Persia, attracts to itself the 
 saleable colts, mixed and pure, good, bad, and middling, of the adjacent districts, as 
 surely as it does other rural produce. And similarly, the representation that " in- 
 ferior animals are sent to the port of Ku-wait on the Persian Gulf, whence they are 
 shipped to India," is true as far as it goes, and, at the same time, very inadequate. 
 Ku-wait, or Grane, is the chief port of Najd, at all events for horses. It is only 
 nine desert marches from Ha-yil. Its inhabitants preserve, in spite of the Turks, 
 much of the Arab character. The collecting of colts from inner Arabia, and from 
 the Ae-ni-za nation of Sha-mi-ya, perhaps ranks as their principal industry. Ad- 
 mittedly, many of these animals are "inferior." But every year a certain number 
 come forward which are of the flower of the stock of Najd. Indeed, we do not 
 know of an easier method in which a European might see and buy Najdi horses 
 prior to export than by stationing himself, from June to September, in the well- 
 oasis of Bar-ja-st-a, a three days' journey out of Ku-wait. He would there be on 
 the caravan route which leads from Najd to the sea-coast. Larger and smaller 
 batches of Bedouin horses would be led or ridden past the spot in which he was 
 ruralising. But even there he would have to be careful, as these caravaners buy 
 colts as they proceed ; and not every horse which comes from Najd is a Najdi, or 
 even an Arabian. 
 
 A view akin to Palgrave's has been recorded by another of our countrymen. 
 The late Mr Skene, her Majesty's Consul at Aleppo, writing more than thirty 
 years ago, advised a correspondent that there was "blood and stride in the desert 
 which has never been seen out of it."^ What does that mean? For example. 
 
 See his letter published in Spot-ting Review for March 1864. 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 A SUMMARY. 
 
 213 
 
 are we to believe that Mr Darley's treasure-trove,^ the progenitor in the female 
 line of Herod, was inferior to other members of the same family which were to be 
 found in Najd or on the Euphrates ? Let no one imagine that it was so. In order 
 to understand the Consul's statement, it is necessary to go behind it and take note 
 of the circumstances which account for it. Mr Skene was a devoted admirer equally 
 of the Arabs and of their horses. The lore of the black tents filled his head in the 
 same ratio in which it emptied his pocket. He wound up his letter by intimating 
 that, through helping the Arabs in their business with the Turkish Pashas, pre- 
 venting oppression, and enabling them to trade in safety with English exporters of 
 wool, he was "perhaps the only one who had succeeded" in getting them to sell at 
 long prices - a first-class horse or mare. It is unnecessary to say more on the subject 
 of these representations than what may be safely said generally of assertions on the 
 part of any one, that he is able to accomplish what perhaps no other person has ever 
 accomplished. Misled in some measure by printed pages, and in some measure by 
 the imagination, we have been trying, for thirty years, to call from the desert's " vasty 
 deep " not spirits but peerless coursers ; and, so far, the mere pursuit has had to 
 satisfy us. Not only do all the facts refute the argument that Arabia contains better 
 colts than those which she distributes, but they go further. They show that every 
 desert of which we have any knowledge is so extensively stripped of its best blood- 
 horses, that not many likely colts of from three to five years old remain In the hands 
 
 1 Major Upton has stated, in his Gleanings from 
 iJie Desert of Arabia (p. 42), that there are docu- 
 ments in the Aleppo Consulate relating to the Darley 
 Arabian ; but our Aleppo colleague informs us, after 
 a diligent search in his archives, that such is not the 
 case. This is not here alluded to as if it threw any 
 doubt on the Darley's history (v. ante, pp. 138 et 165, 
 and f n. 2), but merely to show the precariousness of 
 hearsay. Among the Arabs all things are told by 
 word of mouth : a statement has but to be heard or an 
 incident witnessed in order to be bruited from Dan 
 to Beersheba ; and the horizon of men's imaginations 
 is, besides, illimitable. Another illustration of this 
 presents itself in connection with the Darley. Both 
 Major Upton and Mr, Blunt have passed it on to us 
 that he belonged to the strain which is called Rasu H 
 Fi-dd-wij whereas Mr Darley wrote of him that he 
 was " of the most esteemed race among the Arabs, 
 both by sire and dam, and the name is called Man- 
 nicka" {v. supra, p. 165 in fn. 2). Mi'-ni-ki, or McC- 
 na-ki (from a root meaning long -necked, whence 
 also "Sons of Anak"), is known to eveiy dabbler in 
 desert pedigrees. In the case of Arabians of estab- 
 lished lineage, a distinctive adjunct, like the second 
 name in plants, always follows stock names of the 
 
 class of Mi'-ni-ki. But either this escaped i\Ir Darley, 
 or his Yorkshire senses were but little exercised over 
 the Bedouin nomenclature. The name, as well as the 
 strain, of Mi'-ni-ki found its way into our stud-book 
 with the Darley. A " Manica," foaled in 1707, figured 
 among his immediate progeny, side by side with 
 Aleppo (171 1), Almanzor (1713), and Flying Childers, 
 in that not always to be relied on record. 
 
 - The prices which Mr Skene quoted as those at 
 which he would undertake to procure really first-class 
 Arabians from the Bedouin were ^300 a-head for 
 mares and ;/j2oo a-head for horses. A European 
 gentleman in Bombay took advantage of his readi- 
 ness thus to oblige his friends. About 1862 a num- 
 ber of Mr Skene's selections passed through Baghdad 
 on the way to India. There were no mares among 
 them ; and although mares afterwards followed, such 
 were probably intended more for breeding than for 
 racing. At all events, no fillies ever distinguished 
 themselves in the importer's colours on Indian courses. 
 Several colts did so ; but the stride which they ex- 
 hibited was not superior to that of hundreds of other 
 Arab horses which have reached India through the 
 usual trade channels. 
 
214 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 of their breeders. If England possesses too many stud-horses, Arabia retains too 
 few. One may visit a considerable encampment of the Ae-ni-za and see no unweaned 
 colts, except a few reserved ones, and those which the dealers will not buy. The 
 stock which these people always have with them chiefly consists of well-tried mares, 
 aged stallions, and the rising fillies. 
 
 The mention of fillies suggests a different line of Inquiry. Many hold the 
 opinion that if the Arabian blood is fitted further to improve the established breeds 
 of Europe, the desert mare should be sought for in preference to the desert stallion. 
 About twenty years ago a demand for Arab horses as sires prevailed in the Aus- 
 tralasian colonies. The idea of obtaining a second Satellite, the Darley Arabian of 
 the Antipodes, excited the imagination of the horse-breeders and sportsmen of New 
 South Wales and Victoria. At the request of a much-esteemed friend in the former 
 colony — the late Mr James White of Sydney — we procured for him at different 
 times between 1869 and 1875 four carefully chosen Arabian horses. One of 
 these made a good mark, under the name of A-mir, in stud-book annals. In 1881 
 Mr White wrote that A-mir's stock " had proved unequalled " as light harness- 
 horses ; and that a pair of them had elicited "the praises of one of the greatest 
 authorities in England on the horse-supply question, who, when he saw them being 
 driven by a lady in Sydney, said that they would readily bring a thousand guineas 
 in London." But A-mir, who, by the way, was closely inbred, never sired a race- 
 horse, or a really good hack, in spite of the excellent opportunities of doing so which 
 Mr White afforded to him. Nevertheless, Arabs claiming high character continued 
 to make their appearance in Australia. The local horse-dealers who went to India 
 brouo-ht back several of those which had run well at Calcutta ; and at least one 
 pastoral Croesus spared no expense to obtain specimens which had been specially 
 selected in Sha-mi-ya. But it does not appear that any improvement was thus 
 effected in the thoroughbred strains of the colonies. Public opinion in that quar- 
 ter would appear to have now undergone a change. In 1885 one of the leading 
 horse-breeders in New South Wales wrote to us saying that the great strides 
 made by his adopted country in the production of blood-stock ^ discouraged the idea 
 that there were now any better sires in Arabia than the descendants of Whisker 
 and Satellite, but that perhaps room existed for a further trial of really first-class 
 Bedouin mares. In the same letter he expressed his readiness to pay a thousand 
 guineas, or more if necessary, for one such mare. His impression was that the 
 
 1 A little more than a century ago the rich virgin 
 prairies of Australasia did not support a single horse. 
 When the first fleet sailed into Sydney harbour, in 
 January 1788, there were landed one stallion, three 
 mares, and three colts. It was not till 1825 that the 
 
 Australasian colonies received their first thoroughbred 
 mare, Manto, though before her several thoroughbred 
 stallions had been imported. Thus the Australian 
 blood-horse cannot be said to date back for as much 
 as eighty years. 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 A SUMMARY. 
 
 215 
 
 desert practice of selling the colts and keeping the fillies resulted in the Arabian 
 mare generally being superior in size and swiftness to the Arabian horse. At 
 Baghdad many indications of the acceptance of this view present themselves ; but 
 it would be vain to build on it till some adventurous Englishman, sated with the 
 Riviera and Monte Carlo, shall enter the desert and purchase a few of its choicest 
 mares — not such as have been used for breeding, but fillies fit for cup races. In 
 regard to our friend's application, during several years we took a great deal of 
 trouble to find an animal worthy of being forwarded to him. But accident vouch- 
 safed no assistance ; indirect means, as usual, proved worse than useless ; it was 
 impossible personally to go and hunt up the pearl in the black-tent cities ; and 
 consequently, his desire remained unfulfilled. 
 
 Before the subject of the Arab cross is passed from, an attempt may be 
 made to sift the common impression that the desert Arab will not sell his mare. 
 At the outset, it has to be admitted that this belief is not groundless. Stories 
 of priceless mares, dearer to the owner than his life, are widely circulated. It 
 seems always to be assumed in the literature of the Arabs that, apart from 
 the foray, there is but one way of acquiring a filly which is the property of a 
 stranger, and that is by stealing her ! To illustrate this, room may here be 
 found for the following translation from the well-known Arabic book entitled 
 N'af-ha-hi, 7 Yemen} 
 
 A respectable person relates that one day he saw a man of the Agel,'^ on whose back 
 were marks like those of cupping, and asked for an explanation of them, and received this 
 answer : — 
 
 " The state of the case is, that I loved a fair cousin, and sought her in marriage, and 
 her kindred said, 'We will not give her to thee unless thou makest SJia-ba-ka the wedding-gift.' 
 And Sha-ba-ka was a mare, the fleetest of all, and she belonged to one of the Ba-nu Bakr. 
 And on that I married my cousin. And I went out to effect by stratagem the taking of the 
 mare from her owner, that I might be able to make good the bridal dower. In the guise of a 
 camel-butcher I visited the tribe in which the mare was, and kept going in among them till I 
 learned to distinguish her place from the tent in which her master was. And I saw that she 
 had a filly. And I contrived to enter the tent and conceal myself under a heap of wool carded 
 for washing. And when night came, and the master of the tent appeared, and his wife had 
 dressed supper for him, and they both began to eat, and the gloom had deepened, and they 
 had no lamp, and I was hungry, I put out my hand and stretched it towards the platter, and 
 ate with them. And the man became conscious of my hand, and did not know what it was, 
 and he gripped it ; and I laid hold of the woman's hand with my other hand, and she said to 
 him, ' What do you want with my hand .' ' And he supposed the case to be that he was 
 
 ^ A collection of biographical and moral pieces, 
 of date about 150 years ago, by Shekh Ahmad of 
 Yemen. 
 
 - The Agel, or more correctly IP-kail, are a nation 
 of Arabia. Their roots are in Najd, but they flourish 
 
 in every locality to which the trade of the Arabs is 
 extended by means of camels. Like the chdrans, 
 or reciting bards, of India, they are privileged to 
 pass ever>'\vhere, irrespectively of tribal feuds and 
 enmities. 
 
2l6 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 holding his wife's hand, and let go my hand, and I released the woman's hand, and we ate. 
 . . . And the meal came to an end ; and the man stretched himself on his back and slept. 
 And while he slept I watched them, and the mare was shackled beside the tent, and her filly 
 was unshackled in the tent, and the key of the mare's fetter was under the woman's head. 
 After a little time a black slave arrived and threw a small pebble. And the woman awoke 
 and rose to him, and left the key in its place, and went out of the tent to the back of it, and I 
 crept and took the key, and unlocked with it the mare's shackles. And I had a hair bridle 
 with me, and I bridled the mare and mounted her, and went off on her from the tent. And 
 the woman came back and entered the tent. Then she called out, and the tribe caught the 
 alarm and became aware of me, and mounted in pursuit. And I put the mare to her speed, 
 with a troop of them after me. And I entered on the time of morning, and did not see save 
 one horseman, armed with a lance, and he overtook me, and the sun had risen, and the man 
 began to thrust at me, and could not get his spear-point any nearer to me than sufficed to 
 make these traces on my back. Neither did his mare come up to me, so that he might have 
 me in his power, nor did my mare carry me away, so that the spear should not touch me. 
 And we came to a stream, and I shouted to the mare, and she jumped it ; and the horseman 
 shouted to his mare, and she did not jump. And when I saw that she could not cross, I got 
 off my mare to rest myself and her. And the man called to me, and I said, ' What is it ? ' and 
 he answered, ' I am the owner of the mare that is under thee, and this is her filly, and as you 
 have got her, take care of her ; and truly, by God, I never asked anything of her without 
 attaining to it ; and she was like a fisherman's net {shabakd) in the matter of taking.' " 
 
 There is no sure way of distinguishing the facts which He at the foundation of 
 tales Hke the above. Such elopements certainly hold a place among the usages of 
 the desert ; but perhaps they are confined to those who have no money, or money's 
 worth, to offer. On the other hand, it is an easy inference, from all that has been 
 stated regarding the value of the mare to the Bedouin Arabs, that their natural in- 
 clination is to keep her. According to their saying, her back is the seat of riches, 
 and her womb's produce their year's harvest. In face of the enormous sums which 
 we will pay for retiring turf heroes,^ and even for untried yearlings,- there is nothing 
 incredible in the stories which are current of very large offers having occasionally 
 failed to tempt the Bad-u to transfer his treasure to a stranger. It is not a very 
 simple matter to determine what, if any, share mere sentiment or affection has in 
 hardening this bond of union. Each separate case requires to be experimented on 
 with a heap of gold or a string of camels. Sometimes a report reaches Baghdad 
 that one of the Ae-ni-za possesses a mare for which he has refused fabulous offers. 
 We never have taken steps to test such representations, because, for one thing, a 
 mare may be worth a great deal to the Bedouin, and be almost valueless to the 
 
 ■■ E.g., twelve thousand guineas for Blair - Atliol, 
 fourteen thousand guineas for St Gatien, and the 
 same amount for Ormonde. At tlie Antipodes Mr 
 Cox of Sydney refused ten tliousand guineas for 
 Yattendon. 
 
 ^ As we write this, we hear of a daugliter of St 
 Simon and Quiver fetching five thousand five liundred 
 guineas, at her Majesty's sale of yearlings ; also of a 
 yearling colt by Chester realising four thousand six 
 hundred guineas at Sydney. 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 A SUM3IARY. 
 
 517 
 
 European.^ It is easy to be cynical on the subject of sentiment ; but even wlien the 
 Bedouin Arab agrees to sell his mare, it is not improbable that he does so with sor- 
 row in his heart. A well-known writer relates a story of a Northumberland gipsy 
 who was employed to kill down the otters in a nobleman's fish-pond, and was so 
 ably assisted by a terrier of his own breeding, which he called Charlie, that his lord- 
 ship tried to buy the dog, but to no good purpose; the sturdy "Egyptian's" answer 
 being, " By the winds, his whole estate canna buy Charlie!"^ There are many 
 analogies between the Arabian Bedouin and the Aryan gipsies. And it is but 
 reasonable to concede to the desert Arabs the same high degree of attachment to 
 their mares which the " Ishmaelites " of Europe display towards useful pets of other 
 descriptions. A salient feature of the Arab horse-trade appears to indicate that not 
 only Arab public opinion, but oriental public opinion at large, is adverse to the re- 
 moval of mares to foreign countries. The feature alluded to is, that the dealers who 
 ship Arab horses to India include but few mares in their collections. Many of these 
 men are not Arabs, but Persians who have more or less assumed the Arab speech 
 and manner, and their code of law is flexible. Nevertheless, as a rule, they only 
 take horses. Of course, a mare costs more money, all things being equal, than a 
 horse does ; but this explanation is inadequate. It occasionally happens that a 
 dealer receives, when he is in India, a commission, backed by an advance of money, 
 from a millionaire Rajah, to purchase race-horses for him after his return to Arabia. 
 In these favourable circumstances, one would expect him to buy desert fillies, re- 
 gardless of price,' for his employer ; but he does not do so. Or, to keep to the 
 ordinary trade level, any dealer might bring together a string of useful and more or 
 less well-bred Arabian mares, at prices varying from ^5 to ^200 a-head, in and 
 around Baghdad or Bussorah. Animals of this description would find a ready 
 market in India. The Indians would buy them for breeding, and for processional 
 occasions ; and our countrymen would appreciate them as pleasure-hacks, especially 
 for ladies. It is true that the Ottoman authorities would oppose their exportation ; 
 but all the measures which they might adopt to prevent it would prove as futile as 
 their periodical embargoes on the exit of horses generally. 
 
 It is established by many witnesses that mares of high quality and reputation 
 have been sold to strangers by the Bedouin Arabs. Thus Mr Skene, in letters 
 
 ^ For example : a mare, originally from the nation 
 of Harb, in Najd, lately fell into the hands of the 
 Bussorah Government, after she had made a great 
 name for herself among the Ae-ni-za. When she was 
 sold, a townsman bought her for about ;£3o. Her 
 general appearance was worthy of her reputation. 
 She was a magnificent specimen of the Arabian 
 blood-horse. But she was far too unsound to be fit 
 
 for breeding, and she could not walk without stum- 
 bling. One day we tried her for a mile against a 
 hack, and the winged one of desert hyperbole was 
 beaten in the wretched time of two minutes and 
 eleven seconds ! 
 
 - V. " Our Dogs," in Hora Siibseciva, by John 
 Brown, M.D., 1862, p. 207. 
 
 2 E 
 
2lS 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 which subsequently found their way into print, described several first-class mares 
 which he had bought, at prices running up to ^400, from the tribes of Sha-mi-ya and 
 Al Ja-zi-ra. Captain Upton mentions " six horses and mares " which he and his 
 companions obtained from the Ae-ni-za, in 1874-75.^ I" Bedouin Tribes of the 
 Etiphratcs it is not disclosed how, where, and at what prices the Crabbet Park 
 stud matrons were procured; but Mr Blunt says, in a later essay, that "good 
 Arabian mares of the best blood may be purchased in the desert at from ^200 to 
 ^250 " each, and that he got many of his for less.^ 
 
 The truth is, that it all depends on circumstances. The mares of the Arabs, 
 though not in the first instance intended for the market, do nevertheless drift 
 towards it. If accident may bestow a first-class mare on an English consul, it may 
 equally do so on others.-^ 
 
 Perhaps it will be thought that all these observations on " a further cross " with 
 Arabs follow a wrong direction. No practical person, it may be said, now supposes 
 that if the best mare in England were to visit the best Arab that ever trod the desert, 
 the immediate issue would excel, or even equal, its progenitors on the dam's side. 
 But apart from all idea of producing improvement or increased superiority, is it not 
 necessary, at certain intervals, to return to Eastern blood, with the object of ward- 
 ing off decline in the modern English race-horse, and in all the secondary kinds 
 which derive their virtue from him ? Owing, perhaps, to long residence among the 
 Arabs, we fail to understand how any one can advocate such a piece of retrogres- 
 sion. It would be presumption to hazard an opinion on the moot-point of whether 
 the heroic line of Voltigeur and the Dutchman, Hampton and Rosicrucian, is 
 now undergoing deterioration. Any one may see, in the course of a few visits 
 to the training-grounds of England, that far too many leggy weeds and flat-sided, 
 five-furlono- wretches exist amongr us. Our island breeders must look to this, 
 if they would continue to supply Europe and America, as well as Egypt, India, 
 China, Australasia, New Zealand, and South Africa, with thoroughbred horses, 
 while retaining a sufficient number with which to challenge the world. But other 
 saving measures are at their disposal than crosses with horses of unverified pedi- 
 gree. It may be taken for granted that the Darley Arabian, besides being, in all 
 
 1 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 5, p. 402. 
 
 2 " The Forthcoming Arab Race at Newmarket," 
 in Nineteeiitk Centtiry, May 1884, p. 763. 
 
 2 Par exemple, while this is being printed we hear 
 from Baghdad of a Russian nobleman who has just 
 returned from a long and difficult journey in Central 
 Arabia. Naturally so distinguished a traveller did not 
 fail to visit Amir Muhammad, the prince of Ja-bal 
 Sham-mar. Presents worthy of the occasion were of 
 
 course not omitted ; and the Amir's return gift to the 
 Baron consisted of three mares " on which was Allah's 
 blessing." One of these mares, as we are informed, is 
 being taken to Constantinople, for presentation to H.I. 
 Majesty the Sultan ; while the other two have passed 
 into the possession of a French gentleman, who, after 
 the annexation of his native province by the Germans, 
 transferred himself, with much of his property, to the 
 City of the Caliphs. 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 A SUMMARY. 
 
 219 
 
 probability, pretty closely inbred, was a model both in respect of make and sound- 
 ness. But if he possessed as good a set of legs as those of the only Derby winner 
 which we have ever had an opportunity of looking over, then he was fortunate. 
 Here we pass to the second of the two divisions of this chapter — 
 
 On the Naturalisation Abroad of the Arabian Breed. 
 
 Our century has seen a considerable number of experiments made with this 
 object, but the results are not encouraging. His Majesty the late King of Wur- 
 temberg (18 17-1864) was an enthusiastic admirer of the Arabian horse. Altogether, 
 he was able to obtain for his stud near Stuttgart thirty-eight horses and thirty-six 
 mares of Arabian blood and birth. His object was to breed pure Arabs. Dur- 
 ing his reign, when an Arab was in all strictness a royal hobby, the four-year-old 
 Arabs which his Majesty distributed by means of annual sales brought an average of 
 £12^ each as chargers. After his death the average fell to £6"]} 
 
 Another pre-eminent name in this connection is A'b-bas Pasha, from 1848 to 
 1854 Viceroy of Egypt. Many accounts exist of the lavish manner in which this 
 prince dealt out the good things of Egypt to the Arabs. Palgrave assigns to him 
 a set policy of buying the allegiance equally of the Wahabite confederacy and 
 of the disunited clans of the desert, so that he might rule in Egypt less as the 
 Porte's vassal than as sovereign of the Arabian peninsula.^ But to understand the 
 character of his administration, it is perhaps only necessary to remember that, in his 
 childhood, he had lived in the desert ; that as a Muslim he naturally preferred Arab 
 to European alliances ; and that he was not a great man, but one who followed the 
 bent of his inclination. At any rate, there never was a more zealous collector of 
 Arabian mares and horses. His stud contained upwards of a thousand animals of 
 the purest strains of blood ; and to this day the mouths of the Bedouin water when 
 they think of the prices which his agents would pay for one colt or filly. ^ Perhaps 
 the most important feature in the record is the remark which his Highness the Pasha 
 made to Freiherr von Hugel, chief of the stud of the King of Wiirtemberg, when 
 he was describing the pure Arabs in the royal stables at Stuttgart : " Even if you 
 succeed in getting hold of genuine Arabs, you will never breed real Arabs from 
 
 ^ " The Breeding of Horses," in Edinburgh Review, 
 October 1873, pp. 444-446. 
 
 - Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 7, vol. i. pp. 1 89- 194. 
 
 ^ E.g., according to Mr Skene, ^800 for one stal- 
 lion. A'b-bas Pasha's stud was but little cared for by 
 his successor. In i860 the remains of it came under 
 the hammer at Cairo. By that time only about three 
 
 hundred and fifty animals were left. The sale was 
 spread over three weeks. On one day twenty-six 
 horses fetched five thousand guineas. Mares twenty 
 years old were sold at from one hundred and eighty 
 to two hundred and fifty guineas. Colts and fillies 
 realised from three hundred to seven hundred guineas 
 each. 
 
220 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. book hi. 
 
 them ; for an Arab horse is no longer an Arab when he ceases to breathe the air of 
 the desert." Probably A'b-bas Pasha had brought himself to think that Egypt was 
 Arabia ; and compared with the South-German plateau, it is so. Nevertheless, 
 climate is irresistible. A well-watered country, lying near the sea, cannot fail to 
 exert other influences on animal life than those which belong to the grassy lime- 
 stone uplands of Najd. If the finest known specimens of the Barb, or African 
 Arab, lack the perfect balance of the parent type, climate, probably, is at the bottom 
 of it. In the same way, it is not impossible that A'b-bas Pasha's shrewd observa- 
 tion about the Stuttgart Arabs admitted of extension to his own Egyptian Arabs, 
 in the second or third generation. 
 
 At the mention of transplanting the Arabian breed to Europe, all must natur- 
 ally think of Mr Wilfrid Blunt. Here respect must temper criticism. The 
 British public is much indebted to Mr Blunt. Without having the smallest 
 personal object, he worked hard, and freely expended his money, in order to 
 bring about a reconsideration of the basis on which our thoroughbred stock is 
 established. But how can any one be expected seriously to consider an argument 
 which proceeds on the assumption that the Arabian horse " is the descendant 
 of a single race kept pure since its first domestication " ? ^ As to this we may be 
 allowed to say that if Mr Blunt, before giving way to such a fancy, had taken the 
 trouble to think clearly, his views would have been modified. If the necessity of 
 examining the foundations of his theory failed to impress him, at least he had 
 the courage of it. He imported eighteen Arabian mares and two Arabian stal- 
 lions, confessedly as an experiment, but not without the sanguine hope of their 
 one day bestowing on the English turf, to quote his words, " a neiv race of 
 thoroughbreds, this time really thoroughbred ; " and on the stud, " a more perfect 
 animal than any that England has yet possessed." '^ After an interval of four years, 
 he reported progress in an exceedingly interesting paper, -^ in which he gave measure- 
 ments showing that, " with, of course, a few exceptions," the general run of the 
 young Arabs bred in England from the imported animals had been increased in size 
 by the action of the English climate, combined with good feeding. The only 
 wonder is that, in this nineteenth century, any one should have considered it 
 necessary to demonstrate over again a fact which everybody knows, or ought to 
 know. Without going beyond the limits of Arabia, one may notice how the 
 breeds of camels vary in bulk and stature in different districts, according to the 
 climate. 
 
 If only character or manners be in question, perhaps there is a way in which 
 
 1 V. Mr Blunt's article, "The Thoroughbred Horse," 1 ^ The same article, p. 422. 
 in Nineteenth Century, September 18S0, p. 423. I ^ Nineteenth Century, May 1884. 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 A SUMMARY. 
 
 221 
 
 European horses might be brought to resemble those of the Arabs, and that is, 
 through our coming to closer terms with them. Admittedly there must always 
 remain, like a priestly caste, between us and them, those consequential persons who 
 keep the key of the stable door ; but the modern system of education may be 
 trusted to improve these people. The bon camarado feeling with which the 
 Bedouin regard the equine sharer of their adventures would well become all of us. 
 That true-toned moralist of the realm of sport, Whyte Melville, showed the way in 
 this direction, when he impressed it on his readers that the hunter which has car- 
 ried one in a fast run deserves the same solicitude, both then and afterwards, as 
 does the beautiful and gentle partner in a waltz ! The desert horseman's treat- 
 ment of his mare is unique in several features. He does not " spare for spoil- 
 ing " of her : we have seen how he will ride her to death in urgent circumstances. 
 But he exalts her above the level to which the inferior animals are necessarily 
 restricted in the lands of commerce and high pressure. One of the heroic tales 
 of Najd contains a battlepiece in which the reciter describes how he rode at the 
 hattberk-wearers till his charger seemed clad in a shirt of blood ; and the dumb animal 
 is no sooner mentioned than the following sympathetic reference is brought in by 
 way of climax : — 
 
 And he swerved from the thrusts of the spears in his breast ; 
 And made moan to me with tear and ham-ha-ma : ^ 
 Had he known how to confabulate, he would have complained; 
 And if speech had been given to him, he would have addressed me. 
 
 — A'n-tar. 
 
 In our country, sentiment of this description may seem exclusively to belong to 
 the domain of poetry. We can no longer say with Spenser — 
 
 " Chiefly skill to ride 
 Seems a science proper to gentle blood." 
 
 The squire of Cowper's Task — 
 
 " Who always, ere he mounted, kissed his horse," — 
 
 represents a type which is vanishing. The creation of a new equestrian class in 
 the British Islands has formed a great commercial feature of this century; but it 
 may be doubted whether the increase in numbers of horses and horsemen has, on the 
 whole, been attended with improvement in the horse's status. The use of such a 
 
 1 A word of the same class as mew, bow-wow, 
 &c. Derivatives from natural sounds are frequent 
 in Arabic. Ghar-gha-ra, gurgling; na-kha-ra [our 
 
 "nicher"], snorting; an-iia, ya-in-nu, whining, or 
 moaning ; a!ts, sneezing ; kahh, coughing ; hiss, a 
 low sound, —are examples. 
 
222 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ARABIAN. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 term as status in this connection may excite a smile in those whose thoughts about 
 their horses always work round to money. But there are others of our countrymen 
 who will perhaps concur in the opinion, that the more considerate we are of our 
 horses' happiness and feelings, the less reason we shall have to draw unfavourable 
 comparisons between them and those of the Bedouin Arabs. The "gentleman" 
 is "gentle," not only towards his fellows, but also towards the inferior animals. 
 
 feyspp; 
 
 ^j 
 
 »-. 
 
 -^i 
 
 A BIT ON THE TIGRIS. 
 
BOOK FOURTH 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME 
 
m 
 
 tilko: 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE ARABIAN BREED. 
 
 ^^J^^^^HAT branch of geology which is more particularly occupied with fossil 
 remains traces back the "creation" of the Horse, as now known, 
 through numerous progressive forms or stages, to an absolutely pre- 
 historic period ; but they who would pursue this subject must consult 
 special books. ^ It is at the point where the discourse of the naturalist ceases 
 that that of the breeder or " fancier " begins. When the zoologist has ticketed 
 off, in genus Eqims, the so-called "species" of (i) Eqtms cabalhis, or horse; 
 (2) Equus asinus, or domestic ass; (3) the rufous wild asses of Asia ; and, lastly, 
 the striped quaggas, dauws, and zebras of South Africa, — he leaves it to the 
 horseman to register the following, among other, varieties of Equus caballus : — ■ 
 
 The English Thoroughbred ; 
 
 The various established strains of trotting, coaching, and agricultural horses of 
 
 the British Islands ; 
 Other European breeds — e.o-., the Flanders or Flemish breed ; 
 The Arabian ; 
 The Barb ; 
 The Turku-ma-ni ; 
 
 The Dongola, and other African breeds ; 
 All the races of ponies, from the Shetland Isles to Burmah. 
 
 Lovers of the sesthetic may expect from us a different treatment of our subject 
 than that we should begin by labelling as a mere variety of Eqtms cabalbis, the horse 
 which is held to be the prototype of his species, the rosy-coated - Arabian courser ; 
 
 1 E.g., The Horse (in " Modern Science " series), I ^ V., in table of colours, p. 263, mu-ivar-rad, or 
 by W. H. Flower, C.B., LL.D., D.C.L. London, 1S91. I roseate, as a colour of Arab horses. 
 
 2 F 
 
226 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 of whom ail I'raki poet of the artificial school imagined that the pure air satis- 
 fied his hunger,^ and the smoke uprising from sun-scorched plains his thirst. 
 But as a good deal more of this moonshine falls on the track which awaits us, it 
 is the more necessary to take preliminary note of the Arabian's place in Natural 
 Histor)'. 
 
 The reappearance among the Arabs of the ancient fable about the condensation 
 of the south wind to form the Horse was glanced at in another place ; ^ and the 
 wonderful stories which prevail in towns like Bussorah regarding the origin of 
 the specialised Arabian breed look like embellishments of the same conception. 
 In a very old recital of this class, the sea foam takes the place of the wind as 
 the procreant element. Solomon, King of Israel, it is stated, had a horse of 
 matchless excellence. One day he made the genii toss this animal into the sea, 
 and push him back every time that he tried to swim ashore. Seven colts, each 
 destined to sire a noble lineage, proceeded out of the foam which marked his 
 sinking.^ Orientals do not believe these stories, any more than we do certain 
 similar legends which we nevertheless repeat to our children ; but they do not 
 seem to look much further than them. The above representation possesses but 
 one feature which is of interest here, and that is, its allusion to King Solomon. 
 To this day the three grandest, truest, and most original figures in Semite story, 
 as it appears to many, are Abraham, Solomon, and Muhammad. The David 
 of the Books of Samuel holds the highest place among the rulers and judges of 
 Israel. But all over Western Asia, the renown of him whose military genius 
 made Jerusalem an imperial capital is lost in that of his successor — the grand 
 monarch, at whose bidding temples and palaces arose ; whose commercial policy 
 extended the circle of his prestige ; and for whose magnificent acts, and insights 
 into Nature's Kingdom,'^ tradition could only account by supposing him invested 
 with sovereignty over demons. In another context,^ familiar passages of Scripture 
 were cited to illustrate how the collection and distribution of horses ranked among 
 the many sensational features of Solomon's reign. A daughter of a Pharaoh was 
 
 ^ Similarly, Ariosto — 
 
 " Erst Argalia's courser, which was born 
 From a close union of the wind and flame, 
 And nourished not by hay or heartening corn, 
 Fed on pure air." 
 
 — Orlan, Fur., c. xv. 
 
 2 V. p. 4, ante. In the same way, Homer, to account 
 for the hurricane-like course of the horses in Achilles' 
 chariot, assigns to them the pedigree, "by Zephyrus 
 out of the harpy Podarge" (//., xvi. 14S). And accord- 
 ing to Tasso — 
 
 " This jennet was by Tagus bred ; for oft 
 The breeder of these beasts to war assignede, 
 When first on trees burgen the blossoms soft, 
 
 Prickt forward with the string of fertile kinde, 
 
 Against the aire cast up her head aloft : 
 
 And gath'reth seed so from the fniitfuU winde, 
 
 And thus conceiving of the gentle blast 
 
 (A wonder strange and rare) she foales at last." 
 
 — Jerus. Freed, Bk. vii. (Fairfax's translation). 
 
 2 This story also, as the reader will notice, admits 
 of being traced to many sources. In Greek myth- 
 ology, a horse was created by the sea-god Poseidon's 
 striking the ground, in Thessaly, with his fish-spear. 
 And the sacred Indian horse Uccaihsrawas was pro- 
 duced at the churning of ocean. 
 
 * I Kings iv. 33. ^ V. ante, p. 27. 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE ARABIAN BREED. 
 
 227 
 
 one of his 700 wives.^ At that time (loth century B.C.) the Nile kingdom v/as 
 ricli in horses."^ Hence it naturally followed that " the horses which Solomon 
 had were brought out of Egypt ; and the king's merchants received them in droves, 
 each drove at a price." ^ Now the connection of these facts with our present theme 
 lies in this, that the masses of the Arabs, for whom the Kur-an is the beginning 
 and end of all history and geography, hold Solomon, King of Israel, to have been 
 an Arab. Before Muhammad,^ Arabian tradition was not less charged than 
 Hebrew with floating and fragmentary' notices of the "man of peace ";^ and very 
 many of these afterwards found a place in the Kur-an. At the risk of overtaxing 
 the reader's patience, one such reference must here be quoted, because of the 
 way in which modern fabulists interweave it with their own veracious pieces of 
 horse history. Gabriel's words, very literally rendered, are — 
 
 And We [Allah] gave to Da-ud, Su-lai-man, the best of God's servants — truly a constant turner 
 
 [Godward]. 
 When, at eventide, the slanders on three legs, touching the ground with the tip of the fourth foot — the 
 
 outstrippers — were ranged before him, 
 Then he said, Truly I have loved the love of worldly weal, more than the remembrance of my Master, 
 
 until is hidden [the Sun] behind the curtain [of Night] ; 
 Bring them back to me. And he began to smite them neck and thigh. 
 
 — Su-ra xxxviii. 
 
 In this quotation, the Prophet, to admonish those who heard him, brought in a frag- 
 ment narrating how, once upon a time, the pious king and patriarch, absorbed in 
 admiration of his stud, omitted the evening prayer ; and afterwards, on his consci- 
 ence pricking him, sacrificed the four-footed idols. The historical starting-point of 
 this merely was the extraordinary pains which the traditional Solomon took to im- 
 prove the horse-supply of his kingdom. But mark the use which is now made of it. 
 If we should here inform the general reader, solely on our own authority, that there 
 are numerous persons of considerable knowledge and understanding who hold that 
 in our day every genuine Arabian derives his pedigree from strains preserved by 
 Solomon, the statement might exceed the bounds of credibility. But evidence to 
 that effect is about to be cited in the words of one of the principal recent figures in 
 
 ^ I Kings iii. i ; et xi. 3. 
 
 2 The horse begins to appear in the Egyptian monu- 
 ments so far back as the i8th century B.C., and tra- 
 dition points to Egypt as one of the first places in 
 which the breeding and management of horses received 
 full attention from settled people. 
 
 ^ I Kings X. 28, revised version. But from 2 Chron. 
 i\-. 28, it further appears that "they brought horses 
 for Solomon . . . out of all lands." 
 
 * Na-bi-gha, r, 22. 
 
 '" The Bibhcal form, Shelomo, for Shelomon, is now 
 
 thus rendered. In the Kur-an it is written Su-lai- 
 man. The Arab grammarians reckon this a regularly 
 derived form {dimmutive) from Sal-man, at this day 
 a much esteemed proper name throughout Arabia. 
 European scholars hold " Su-lai-man " to be an Arab 
 deformation, or adaptation, of She-16-m6. In any case, 
 the root oi She-ld-7noii is also that oi Sal-mdn, equally 
 in Arabic and Hebrew. The same root appears in 
 sa-ldin, is-ldm, Salem, Jerusalem, Absolom, and many 
 other words. 
 
228 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 the Arab horse trade, the late Esau bin Curtas,^ of Bussorah and Calcutta. Esau 
 was not a reading man or a writing one ; but he was a very shrewd one, as his 
 success, not only with horses but in other branches of Arabian commerce, showed. 
 Even book knowledge reached him indirectly, in the modern Arabian Nights 
 Entertainments, or conversaziones, of Zubair and Bussorah. If he could not write 
 himself, he had those who could both write and read for him ; and the editors of a 
 Calcutta magazine, in the number for October 1869, allowed him to enlighten 
 English readers regarding the history of the Arabian breed. The groundwork of 
 his ideas is thus described by him : — 
 
 " Solomon, it appears, was a great lover of horses ; in fact, he spent the greatest part of 
 his day, and devoted much of his time, in admiration of them. This great patriarch, a devoted 
 and humble servant of God, one day, engrossed by the company of, and perfection of the 
 beauty of, his horses, omitted to say his prayers ; for which reason, on reflecting on his neglect 
 to God for worldly pleasure, he took an extreme hatred to his horses, and turned them all 
 loose, all over the country : on which occasion, let it well be noticed, six of the elite of known 
 mares were selected from the loose and abandoned lot, and kept especially for breeding 
 purposes by an equal number of individuals. 
 
 " From that date the names of those six individual owners were given to the six mares 
 respectively, and which can be traced to the present day. From these six mares have 
 descended a long list of names which have no end. The produce, unlimited, from the above 
 six mares is to a degree astonishing ; and unless the blood of the foals can be traced back to 
 one of them, they are scorned by the Bedouins, who will have nothing to say to them. The 
 Bedouins of the present day have not, as is supposed, relaxed in the slightest degree their 
 search or trace back to their six renowned dams ; and their minuteness in their inquiries is 
 extremely correct." ^ 
 
 Now it must not be imagined that Esau fabricated this account. It simply is, 
 as the reader will perceive, a garbled version of the passage in the Kur-an about 
 Solomon and his mares which has just been quoted. The fact of its owning such a 
 source is enough to separate it from the genuine — that is. Bedouin — Arabs, who 
 no more occupy themselves with material of this description than the pure Romany 
 blood does with church history in Europe. The proper way to regard it is as a 
 piece of lore of the Arab horse-dealers, who find it a valuable aid to business when 
 they go to India. Strange as it may sound, they frequently succeed in impressing 
 the essential part of it on the minds of educated Europeans. For example, the 
 late Major Upton, in Gleanings from the Desert of Arabia, takes up the 
 wondrous tale where Esau left it. He finds no difficulty in believing that a breed 
 which existed when the throne of Israel was at its highest glory has been continued 
 
 ^ Correctly, !'-sa ihtu '1 Kir-tas, or I'-sA, son of the 
 paper; but we write the name as it is commonly 
 known. " Bin," for " ibn," is not Arabic. "l'-sa"no 
 doubt is a corruption of "Esau"; but the Arabs 
 themselves, in naming a boy " I'-sa," are naming 
 
 him after "the Prophet Jesus," whom by a strange 
 confusion they call by the Jewish distortion of his 
 true name : v. ante, p. io6, in f n. i. 
 
 - Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 38, vol. ii. p. 670. 
 
CHAP. I. ON THE ORIGIN OF THE ARABIAN BREED. 229 
 
 down to our day. So far he agrees with Esau ; but he goes further. In his opinion 
 it is " unwarrantable to suppose that the great King of Israel is intended," by 
 the "genuine Arabs," when they trace back, as he says they do, the first five 
 (Esau writes six) Arabian mares to the stud of Solomon. He says that this is "a 
 misconception." The Arabs, he continues, " unpretending and thoroughly truthful, 
 have simply mentioned a fact in their history connected with their own direct 
 ancestors " — that is, of course, in naming a Solomon as their heroic horse-breeder.^ 
 An appeal is then made to what is called Arab "history." And the result is the 
 discovery that the Solomon to whom the " genuine Arabs " hold themselves 
 indebted for their horses was "an Arabian patriarch" of that name who "lived 
 some six centuries before the time of Solomon, King of Israel," and was "only 
 fourth in descent from Ismail." The work in which this is stated is less known 
 than the same author's Neivmarket and Arabia, of which it forms a fitting continu- 
 ation. The only important fact which we can discover in it is, that Major 
 Upton lived and died believing it to be "recorded in history" that "an authentic 
 family of horses has been preserved in Arabia for 3500 years." If all the accumula- 
 tions of antiquity concerning the old world were history, even in the restricted sense 
 of relating to men that have lived, or events that have happened, this statement 
 might be worth sifting ; but as the facts are, the Arabian Nights contains nothing 
 which is more unsubstantial. At the same time, however, it should not be left 
 unstated that Major Upton has Mr Blunt more or less with him. Both these 
 authorities are entitled to respect in matters of opinion. But there are also such 
 things as facts ; and where facts are wanting, various degrees of probability and 
 improbability require to be considered. They who have reached this chapter by 
 the skipping process may here go back, if so inclined, to the pages which were 
 devoted to showing that Arabia, as now known, never can have supported wild 
 horses.- And in regard to the knotty question of when its famous breed originated, 
 he who is content to imagine, without any real evidence, that the Arabs of King 
 Solomon's time possessed the very stock of which was the Darley, must continue to 
 be of that opinion. In due season we shall again refer to the ancient Arabian poetry 
 in connection with this subject, but first it is necessary to escape out of fable-land. 
 The sober-minded reader may marvel at any European pausing before the pile of 
 artificial horse-lore of which Solomon, and next to him Muhammad, are made the 
 pillars. The two fragments of it which we have quoted are merely specimens. One 
 of them — that which introduces seven mysterious colts of Solomon's — is, of course, 
 a pure piece of myth-growth. The other, wherein six mares are mentioned, is not 
 even a legend. We have just seen that it is merely a modern perversion, by illiterate 
 
 ^ Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 4, pp. 289-291. | ^ V. ante, pp. 7 et 74. 
 
230 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 townsmen, of a passage in one of Muhammad's homilies. No better foundation is 
 assignable to the cycle of stories which represents the Arabian breed as descended 
 from mares identified with the Arab Prophet. Such tales are kept for travel- 
 lers. If they possess any significance, it is but to illustrate how, when once a 
 nation has found its hero, everything is made to connect itself with him. The 
 direct and indirect influence of the Muslim era in increasing the importance of 
 horse-soldiery has been fully noticed ; but it has also been observed that Arabia 
 before the Flight nursed the breeds which mounted the cavalry of the first four 
 Caliphs. Love of horses runs in the blood of the Arabs, and Muhammad was 
 not an exception. Nevertheless, in so far as he was a martial man, he represented 
 the Cromwell more than the Rupert type. Tradition relates that he never struck 
 any one in his life except in defence of the Faith.^ His biographers give him 
 at least three chargers ; ^ but less is heard of his horses than of his she-camels, 
 especially Al Kas-wa, from whose back he addressed 40,000 people on a solemn 
 and memorable occasion ; his mule, Dul-dul ; and his ass, U'fair. 
 
 The fiction that the Arabian breed came in with the Kur-an finds congenial 
 soil in coflfee-houses, but the desert does not know it. There are, however, two 
 points in the current stories on this subject which deserve to be attentively con- 
 sidered. One point is, that according to a concert of Arab representation, the pure- 
 bred stock of the desert descends in the female line. The other is, that the mothers 
 of the breed are now arranofed in five collateral branches. 
 
 In the towns of Syria, I'rak, and Persia, there is a widespread notion that the 
 male parent transmits the qualities of the breed — in other words, that the foal fol- 
 lows the stallion. The idea of the horse being the maker, and the mare " only a 
 sack," may attract those who habitually look down on females, and who have no 
 experience of horse-breeding on a large scale. The much-travelled and cosmo- 
 politan Guarmani builds on the same assumption, in his memoir on the pure-blood 
 Arab horse in Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and the Arabian deserts ; ^ but then, he was 
 a horse-buyer, not a horse-breeder, and had made it his profession to seek for 
 commissions from foreign Governments for the purchase of Arab stallions. No- 
 body who knows the difliculty of this question will be too sure about it. Of course, 
 one horse may yield a greater progeny in a year than a shipload of mares will do 
 in ten ; but this is the only light in which it is safe to regard the sire as the more 
 valuable. European authorities in the science of breeding now reckon it one of 
 
 ' The Prophet said. Let not the Kd-dJii judge wJieji 
 he is angry. And again. When one who is standi?tg 
 waxes angry, let him sit downj if his q7iger abide, 
 let him sleeps <^nd if angry still, let him perform the 
 ablutions. And once again, Foigive thy servant seventy 
 
 times in one day. 
 
 ^ Their names were ; SA.KB = rtmning like water j 
 SAB-SAH = a g>-eat swi>nmer — i.e., galloper ; and MUR- 
 TA-Jiz = Thunderer, or perhaps Neigher. 
 
 ^ Op. cit. in Catalog. No. \%, passim. 
 
CHAP. I. ON THE ORIGIN OF THE ARABIAN BREED. 231 
 
 the methods of nature that a well-bred animal will mark his, or her, stock more surely 
 and considerably than an under-bred one. They even quote instances showing that, 
 when both parents strongly exhibit a given character, the offspring do not inherit it 
 so surely as when only one parent is so characterised. Accordingly, Governments 
 having possessions in which the horse stock is degenerate, incur the enormous 
 expense of collecting foreign stallions, of various classes, for its improvement ; but 
 the results are seldom published. At all events, these are not matters on which 
 evidence need be looked for among the Arabs. Not the improvement, but the 
 preservation, of a breed occupies them ; and their ideal method of accomplishing 
 their object is by the pairing of animals of equal purity. 
 
 How then comes it, the reader may here inquire, that, in telling the pedigrees 
 of their horses, they give the mare pre-eminence ; exactly as if we should describe 
 a foal by Melbourne, out of Queen Mary, as a " Queen Mary " colt or filly, instead 
 of, as we do, a " Melbourne" one ? 
 
 The masses who liken the mare to a vase, out of which only what is put into 
 it can be taken, are more given to talking about subjects than considering them. 
 Guarmani is one of the few exceptions to this statement. In bringing out his theory 
 that the regeneration of the equine breeds of the world depends on crossing them 
 with Arabian stallions, he rejects the common account that desert pedigrees begin 
 with mares. He says that the youngling is reckoned to its dam's family only when 
 strain has been mixed with strain, and the dam is held to be inferior to the sire. It 
 is right to take his word for it, that in his wide peregrinations he saw or heard of 
 people who did so. But in regard to the genuine Arabs, it would be affectation to 
 attach importance to a view so much in conflict with all the information which comes 
 from other sources. The only animals that we have ever heard called by their sire's 
 family name in the desert have been those which the Bedouin describe as " not 
 horses" but " sons of horses" — that is, got by a first-class sire out of an inferior mare. 
 
 It has been seen that the tent-dwelling Arabs, In arranging their marriages, 
 attach equal importance to purity of blood on both sides. The head of one of our 
 " oldest " families may wed a girl of unknown origin, without the supposed soundness 
 of his line being thereby affected. But if a Bedouin Arab were to do so, the ofifspring 
 would not be considered genuine representatives of his stock. Precisely the same 
 view, neither more nor less, vmderlles the desert rule of horse-breeding ; and it is 
 quite unjustifiable to Infer from the Arabs reckoning their horses to dams and grand- 
 dams, that they attribute a greater part in reproduction to one parent than to the 
 other. The reader who has followed us thus far, does not need to be reminded of 
 the reasons which make the nomad hold to his mare as others do to a field or 
 garden, and object to sell her to persons who will carry her off altogether, even 
 when he will sell what he calls " a leg of her " — that is, a certain share in her pro- 
 
THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 duce — to a neighbour. The Hi-san, or horse, he who " swalloweth the ground with 
 fierceness and rage,"^ is in his element in pitched battles; but the mare's gentler 
 qualities make her the more suitable in desert hurly-burly. She neighs but little, 
 and possesses other advantages which are important to the rider. When Chivalry 
 married the horse to Knighthood in Europe, horse-breeding was favoured by the 
 assignment of the mares to peaceful labour.^ In the same way in Arabia, the use 
 of mares in preference to horses checks their being sold for export. But, like all 
 one-sided systems, both methods have drawbacks. If the one imparted to the 
 mares of feudal England too much of the farm-stable character, the other gives 
 less than fair-play to the colt division of the Arabs' horse-stock. In modern times 
 we know better. For every Sir Hugo which is made known by the Derby, a La 
 Fleche is brought into notice by the Oaks. If our prize-winners be not the off- 
 spring of " good fathers and good mothers," it is not for want of highly-tried material 
 equally on both sides. 
 
 The real explanation of the dams always standing first in the pedigrees of 
 desert horses is writ large in the preceding sentences. Seeing that the mares do all 
 the ghaz-u work, it naturally follows that it is they, and not their brothers, who, 
 through the display of superiority, as we say, " found families." 
 
 The chief object, so far, has been to separate the protean stories of the 
 townsmen from the lore of the tent-folk about Arabian horses. Many may con- 
 sider the one class of material not less unprofitable than the other ; but, with due 
 deference, we cannot in our own mind bring down the relations of the Bedouin 
 to the same level with the confused mixtures of the jam-bazes. At any rate, it 
 is impossible faithfully to echo the voices of the desert concerning the Arabian 
 horse, while shunning all paths where the light is dubious. 
 
 It was seen just now how the Bedouin, when they recite a pedigree, set out 
 with the dam. But this is only half of the story. It is a desert tenet that all the 
 stock of approved lineage now existing has for its common root the mare of a 
 certain, or rather very uncertain, d-j{iz, or old woman. We have never seen a 
 Bedouin Arab who pretended to know either the old woman's name or when she 
 flourished. The legend -spinners have been at work on both points, but their 
 tales are not worth repeating. Of course, it is open to any one who pleases to 
 relegate the crone and her mare to the same prolific region out of which Old Mother 
 Hubbard and her dog proceeded. But if the concurrent belief of all the Bedouin 
 nations count for anything, this would be going a stage too far. 
 
 1 Job xxxix. 24. 
 
 2 Bede (born c. 673), to whom we owe the most and 
 the best of our knowledge of early EngUsh history, 
 
 states that, in 630, when the bishops, who until then 
 were wont to go on foot, took to riding, they used 
 mares as a mark of humility. 
 
CHAP. I. ON THE ORIGIN OF THE ARABIAN BREED. 233 
 
 Here it is essential that we should gain some idea of the two very common 
 terms of desert tradition, Ku-hai-la and Al Kham-sa. 
 
 Ku-HAI-LA. 
 
 Arabic has the epithet ku-hai-ldn, the feminine of which is ku-hai-la, in 
 construction, hi-hai-lat. The mare just now brought up from the limbo of an- 
 tiquity is immortal in desert legend, under the name of Kit,-hai-la-t7i 7 d-jilz, or 
 the Kuhaila of the old zvoman. And all the authentic stock of Najd, which is 
 supposed to be descended from her, bears the appellative, at once comprehensive 
 and distinctive, of Ku-hai-lan. 
 
 Now Ku-hai-lan is an epithet from ht-hail, diminutive of kuhl, which 
 appears in Europe as the name of the prince of antiseptics, al-cohol.^ Among 
 the simpler meanings of hihl is blackness,'^-' or blueness, as of the eye or heavens ; 
 and we think it so probable as to be almost certain that " Ku-hai-lan," as 
 applied to the Arabian blood-horse, is an example of names derived from colour. 
 In this breed, and especially in white and grey horses, the skin is characterised by a 
 dark-blue tinge, which appears through the hairy covering. The large expressive 
 eye, standing out from its socket, suggests, in its lustrous blackness, a body inter- 
 mediate between jet and diamond. Hairless surfaces, not unlike blue or black 
 velvet, encircle the eyes, and overspread the face and muzzle. No doubt it is 
 possible to propose different explanations of " Ku-hai-lan." Among the concrete 
 meanings of ktihl and kit-hall are (i) antimony, (2) tar. The coffee-house 
 story that the eyes and eyebrows of the '' Kit-hai-la-ttt 7 d-jiiz" were beautified 
 with antimony, after a common Eastern fashion, is too trivial to be worth con- 
 sidering. But if it pleases any one to associate the Arab mare of very early times 
 with kit-hail, in the sense of wood-tar, there is nothing absurd in such a supposition. 
 We know how dependent pastoral nations are on this product. It is stated by Lord 
 Macaulay of his Celtic ancestors, that their " hair and skin would have put to the 
 proof the philosophy of any one visiting them ; " and that some of them would have 
 been found " covered with cutaneous eruptions, and others would have been smeared 
 with tar like sheep." ^ There is no authority to justify the application of this 
 
 1 Similarly, in alchemy, algebra, cipher, assay, alkali, 
 alembic, and other survivals, there are traces of the 
 sojourn with the Arabs of sciences which they no 
 longer cultivate. 
 
 2 Whether coal, the kol (in German, kohle) of the 
 Teutonic nations, likewise houille, in France and 
 Belgium mineral coal, admit of identification with kohl 
 
 of Semites, is a question for philologists. 
 
 3 History of England, ch. xii., where this doggerel, 
 by one Cleland, is quoted as authority : — 
 
 ' ' The reason is, they're smeared with tar, 
 Which doth defend their head and neck, 
 Just as it doth their sheep protect." 
 
234 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 description to the Arabian Bedouin. These certainly have their own share of skin 
 diseases. During visits to them, we have been shocked by the unsalved sores which 
 the faUing aside of a vest has uncovered in the apparently robust. They may also 
 be found redolent enough of unguents, after a bout of dressing over mangy camels ; 
 but we never saw one of them who had himself been rubbed. Not to pursue this 
 subject, it appears from references in the old poetry that the primitive Arabs 
 obtained tar by a rude process of wood distillation. A'n-tar compares the sweat 
 which exuded from his riding-camel's dhif-7'd, or part behind the ear, first with 
 " rtibb" or inspissated juice,^ and then with " hi-haii," or liquid pitch bubbling in 
 a caldron. Another and contemporary ra-wi-a ^ depicts himself as shunned by 
 all his clan, so that he was as solitary as a camel besmeared with pitch. The " rosy- 
 coated " Ku-hai-la of the modern period may rarely need a tarry dressing ; but 
 the earl}' mothers of the breed cannot have approached the ideal so closely. The 
 objection to all this is, that it makes too great a demand on the imagination. In our 
 opinion it is best to consider that the stock of Ku-hail owes its name to certain 
 characteristics of colouring which it possesses. 
 
 Al Kham-sa. 
 
 In Arabic, The Five. This term has already met us, as denoting the fingers 
 of the right hand.^ Another use of it is. The Five essential plenishings, of carpet, 
 nose-ring, neck-chain, bracelets, and travelling-bag,* which every nomad wooer 
 presents to his betrothed. Here it means, The Five primary ramifications of 
 the central stem of Ku-hai-lan. During a long residence in El I'rak, and on many 
 journeys, we have made constant inquiry on this subject from the Bedouin. 
 One undeviating answer has been given on two points : first, that every noble 
 strain in the Arabian desert goes back to the " Ku-hai-la of the old woman " ; 
 and further, that it does so through one or othe^' of the lines which constittite 
 Al Kham-sa. The five main compartments, so to call them, of the great con- 
 solidation which the Arabs call Ku-hai-lan are not the same in all narrations. 
 The table opposite shows them as they are usually recounted. No Ba-da-wi 
 ever by any chance omits Ku-hai-lan. This, as has been seen, is the parent 
 trunk. The four great branches, as considerable as itself, which have grown 
 
 1 It may have been in Spain that the Arabic rubb, 
 Enghsh rob, first became in Europe a name for fruit- 
 syrup. 
 
 ^ Ta-ra-fa. 
 
 ' V. ante, p. 191, fn. 2. 
 
 ^ Not the compHcated case so well known to civih- 
 sation ; but a hold-all, which they suspend from the 
 gha-bit, or camel-pillion. 
 
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236 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. book iv. 
 
 out of it, are not held to render it undistinguishable, far less to dwarf it. Perhaps 
 it is proper to mention Palgrave's dissent from this representation. According to 
 his view, the uncontaminated Arabian stock has never known subdivision. He 
 stoutly asserts that partitions of it are but modern and degenerate features, which 
 are met with in the deserts round Baghdad and Mosul, " almost, often wholly, un- 
 known even by name in Najd." ^ It would, however, have been no more than just 
 to himself if he had produced the evidence leading up to this conclusion. The well- 
 known tendency of all breeds to split into varieties, like languages into dialects, 
 weighs heavily against it. It is incredible that any breed should have run on for 
 ages without breaking into strains. And, moreover, it has been seen how all the 
 nations now occupying Shi-mi-ya and AI Ja-zi-ra originally issued from the immense 
 native land of nomads, Najd, freighted with their desert stock and lore. Unques- 
 tionably many new ramifications of Al Kham-sa are due to these migrations ; but 
 that is a different matter. For the ordinary reader, the names in our table can be no 
 more than foreign curiosities ; but points are involved in them which buyers of Arab 
 horses should notice. The key to the table is, to understand by its radical group- 
 name, Ku-hai-lAn, what we express by TJioroiighbred ; to compare its five secondary 
 lines with the three stocks which are called in our Stud-book after the Darley 
 Arabian, the Byerly Turk, and the Godolphin Arabian respectively ; and then to 
 consider all the minor ramifications as corresponding with the Waxy, Orville, Buz- 
 zard, Blacklock, Tramp, and other strains of our racing calendar. Thus Ku-hail, 
 or Ku-HAi-LAN, denotes the breed, in Arabic nis-ba, or nasi ; and every other name, 
 a greater or smaller offshoot of it, with Arabs a ra-san (lit. rope), also mar-bat. All 
 these terms float in the breath of Bedouin, and it is chiefly foreigners who put them 
 on paper. Jam-bazes and other townsmen, little as they know about them, make 
 much use of them when they are recommending or selling horses. It greatly im- 
 presses an Englishman to hear a high-sounding epithet which is unintelligible to him 
 reverently given for pedigree, to a patrician-like animal, by men as strange of garb 
 and aspect as any of those in Fenimore Cooper's novels. But he who would buy a 
 horse, and not a name, needs a word of warning as to this. In the first place, the 
 common representation that the Arabs do not romance about a horse's pedigree 
 does not apply to the jam-bazes. And next, even supposing the pedigree which is 
 given to be authentic, it guarantees no more than that the subject of it is fitted for 
 Al ghaz-u. It is perfectly true that, within the desert, the names referred to consti- 
 tute at once the proofs and the subdivisions of the term a-sil ; and so far they are 
 important — to those who understand them. Of course, in the Arabian stock, as 
 in that of Herod, Eclipse, and Matchem, a horse may be, and indeed is sure to be, 
 
 ^ Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 19, vol. ii. p. 241. 
 
CHAP. I. ON THE ORIGIN OF THE ARABIAN BREED. 237 
 
 mixed of sh^ain, while not outside of the breed or blood. The desert horseman is 
 not satisfied with the information that a colt or filly is, for example, a Sak-la-wi, 
 but insists on ascertaining what his strain is in the Sak-ld-wt family. Not even 
 Ktt,-hai-ldn, though in a sense generic — i.e., of itself descriptive of the genuine 
 Arabian — is sufi^ciently explicit for him. It is taken for granted that if the animal 
 be of good repute, more must be known of his breeding than that ; and he will not 
 be accepted till every detail is satisfactorily established. 
 
 In regard to the words which fill our table, practically they are proper names. 
 Nevertheless, they are sound Arabic forms. In so far as their derivations are ap- 
 parent, they show that, just as very many of the names of the Bedouin depict their 
 lives and qualities, so do those of their strains of horses embody the ideal charac- 
 teristics of their coursers. Here it may be mentioned that the Arabs, with a fine 
 respect for humanity, do not give men's or women's names to the lower animals. 
 If they had their sporting newspapers, the reader would be spared such items as 
 that some famous living preacher, or party leader, had " turned a roarer," or un- 
 dergone some other alteration. With them, as with us, men's fancies or caprices, 
 traits or peculiarities of appearance, or, as in Eclipse's case, events which happened 
 about the time of foaling, have suggested names for mares, and these names have 
 become traditional. When a mare's name is clearly an epithet, like Mi-ni-ki, 
 meaning long-necked, it is sometimes an open question whether the lono- neck or 
 other feature belonged to her or to her owner. A'n-tar's charger has come down 
 as Abjar, or big-belhed ; for Arab horsemen know how much depends on the diges- 
 tive organs. At the present time, one of the most renowned mares in Arabia is 
 A-mir Muhammad's Mu-ni-ra, a name very like the Lantern of the Australasian 
 stud-book. 
 
 The problem of whether a colt which is truly of Al Kham-sa necessarily sur- 
 passes, in practical qualities, one which is not, will in due course be considered. In 
 passing from the two great terms of desert nomenclature, Ku-hai-lan and Al 
 Kham-sa, it may be worth while here to repeat that all the merit which is derivable 
 from considerable antiquity and from wide recognition unquestionably belongs to 
 The Five/«?' excellence, and to the Imi-dud, or approved, strains and sub-strains into 
 which they now branch out. 
 
 It is next proposed to look for a rational view of the derivation of the 
 Arabian stock. The results of the discussions which appear in sportino- journals 
 about the origins of comparatively recent breeds are so uncertain, that it may 
 seem absurd to attempt to go too far back, in regard to the breed of horses 
 
238 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 standing first in seniority of all the high-bred coursers of the world. Never- 
 theless, if we cannot expect to find full information, there are at least traces to 
 which attention may be drawn. The question of when Arabia first received the 
 Horse has already occurred. The other day a cavalry officer of the Osmanli 
 recalled it, on happening to notice this picture in a book which was on the 
 table : — 
 
 Out of respect to his religious teachers, he believed in the Jinn and other 
 marvels, but he could not accept the Centaur. His reason was the practical one, 
 that if Allah had created so superior an animal, the biped race of Adam would 
 have been exterminated. And truly, the most sensible account of this particular 
 representation of mythology is that which connects it with some historic episode 
 involving the subjugation of peasants by barbaric riders.^ It is known that, 
 from the earliest down to comparatively modern times, hordes of equestrian 
 warriors and archers, pouring westward, have formed dynasties in many parts 
 of the world ; but there is no proof that Arabia proper ever felt the tread of 
 Mongol horses. Nineteenth - century research finds evidence in philology that 
 the horse was known to the Aryans before they separated ; but in regard to 
 the Semites, the words for horse which appear in their several languages ^ 
 
 1 The Scyths, or Caucasian nations of ancient Asia, 
 whose march was from beyond the Jaxartes, down the 
 Oxus and the Indus, and across the Tigris and the 
 Euphrates to the Bosphorus and the Nile, are thus 
 alluded to by Herodotus (B.C. 4S4-443) : — 
 
 " Having neither cities nor forts, and carrying their 
 dwellings with them wherever they go ; accustomed, 
 moreover, one and all, to shoot from horsebacks and 
 living, not by husbandry, but on their cattle, — how can 
 
 they fail of being unconquerable ? " 
 
 What were the Boer marksmen who hit so hard at 
 Majuba Hill but fighting centaurs, trained to arms of 
 precision instead of bows and arrows? 
 
 2 For instance, in Arabic, the current terms for 
 mares and horses, hi-sdn, fa-ras, khail, and, with 
 the Bedouin (as in Esther viii. 10), ra-mak, are less 
 names than epithets. 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE ARABIAN BREED. 
 
 239 
 
 have not been held to justify a similar inference. The allusions to "horse- 
 hoofs" in Judges v. 22, and to "horses very many" in Joshua xi. 4, are 
 accounted the earliest notices of this animal which are contained in Semite 
 literature. On these and other grounds, it has been suggested that the Semitic 
 peoples, as a whole, were indebted for the horse to the Iranian upland which 
 comprises Persia ; but this is only a conjecture.^ Restricting the view to Arabia, 
 Sprenger considers that the Arabs possessed but few horses down to the period 
 of the Flight.2 The tradition that A'li's^ charger, Mai-mun, was of Egyptian 
 breeding, is sometimes used to support this opinion ; but if the fact that so 
 many of our own princes ride Arabs were hereafter to be cited as proof that, in 
 the nineteenth century, Europe was poor in horses, the cases would be parallel. 
 In A'li's time, Egypt held the same high place as a school for cavalry which she 
 did at the date of the 31st chapter of Isaiah. It is observed by a recent authority 
 that "literature affords no trace of the horse, as indigenous to Arabia, prior to 
 
 about the beginning of the fifth century a.d. 
 
 " 4 
 
 Without repeating what 
 
 has been stated on this point in another connection,^ it may just be said 
 that the period at which an animal first gets into a literature is not neces- 
 sarily that of its first appearance on the actual stage. When, as has happened 
 in most countries, compositions of the pre-Iiterary epoch are delivered to penmen 
 who come later, it is impossible to tell how many similar treasures have lived 
 and died in remoter ages. Evidence drawn from the earliest known Arabian 
 poems is already before the reader, showing how familiar the sportsmen of Najd 
 were with the points of a good horse at the beginning of our sixth century. The 
 
 1 There is at least no lack of evidence that the 
 horse was highly esteemed in Persia in early times. 
 For example, the custom still traceable, of granting 
 the rights of sanctuary to all who take refuge at the 
 foot of a horse, or in a stable, must be very ancient. 
 The Persians are excelled by many as horse-breeders, 
 but by none in the art of caring for horses, and ob- 
 taining from them a full amount of work. Their 
 stable management takes no account of many things 
 which we consider important. But at least feed- 
 ing, clothing, and working are well understood in 
 Persia. 
 
 "■■ Lcb. Moh., iii. 139, 140. Compare Ignazio Guidi's 
 paper, " Delia sede primitiva dei popoli Semitici," 
 in the TraJisactions of the Accademia dei Lincei, 
 1878-79. 
 
 ' A reference to the actual A'li will be found in 
 art. SUN-Ni AND Snt-l', Ind. I. The A'li of romance 
 is not so easily represented. Religionists style him. 
 
 the last a?td "worthiest of primitive Muslim; him who 
 attained to where the flood of El Is-ldm collects; and 
 reached the first springs thereof; and tasted the pier est 
 of it. Bookmen ascribe to him e\'ery sententious, 
 didactic saying, especially those in verse, the author- 
 ship of which is unknown. As a military leader, he 
 is held to personify the force and passion of early 
 Islamism. El Kar-rar, or The Returner agaiti 
 and again to the charge, is one of his epithets. His 
 exploits are magnified in numerous Arthurian legends. 
 His good horse fills the place in Eastern story and 
 pictorial I'epresentation which the marvellous steed 
 Bayard does in the Charlemagne cycle of fiction ; and 
 his two-edged sword, " Dhu V fa-kar" — a trophy and 
 favourite weapon of the Prophet — is the Excalibur of 
 Arabian and Persian romance. 
 
 * Ency. Brit., vol. xii. p. 181 in fn. i. 
 
 ^ V. ante, p. 27. 
 
240 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 following passage from the same source, and of about the same period, is even 
 
 more sisfnificant : — 
 
 And on morn of raid and melee, 
 
 Comrades true, the mares we rear ; 
 Never lost we yet a filly, 
 
 But a rescuer was near. 
 Like an heirloom long descended, 
 
 In our tents their lineage runs ; 
 And when time for us is ended. 
 
 We shall leave it to our sons. 
 
 When they lead the mares to pasture. 
 
 Ye may hear our white ones ^ say, 
 Not for us the lord and master," 
 
 Who is fearful of the fray ! 
 
 — A'mr. 
 
 That is, not only did Najd possess highly cultivated strains of horses 
 some 1400 years ago, but then, as now, such had been handed down by many 
 generations of horsemen. Modern scholarship is so far from doubting the 
 authenticity of the pre-Islamic ballads, that it undertakes the task of editing 
 them.^ Thus, in addition to brushing aside numerous phantasmal structures 
 about the origin of the Arabian breed, we arrive at firm ground in regard 
 to its antiquity. Next, in the absence of actual knowledge or records, analogy 
 may be asked for suggestions on the point of how the race of Ku-hai-lan may 
 be supposed to have been produced. The first words on the first page of a 
 recent book on the Dandie Dinmont terrier * are, that the " exact origin " of the 
 breed " is practically unknown "; in spite of its being no farther back than " the first 
 Sabbath of the year 1820" that James Davidson, of Hindlee in Roxburghshire, the 
 original, in some respects, of the immortal Dinmont, was gathered to his fathers.^ 
 Now, it is not known whether Davidson, like the late Rev. John Russell,^ and 
 many others, made his breed of terriers out of the materials round him, or received 
 it from the Border gipsies. The facts, so far as they can be traced, best fit the 
 latter view — that is, that the ochre, or " Mustard," and the greyish black, or 
 " Pepper," terriers of Liddesdale were as essentially the products of nomad life as 
 the Ku-hai-lans of Araby. But whether the breed was made by basket-weaving, 
 otter-hunting, and poaching fortune-tellers, or by mountain farmers, is immaterial. 
 
 1 I.e., the fair-skinned Arab women, of honour- 
 able lineage, as distinct from those of mixed 
 blood. 
 
 2 In the original, bti I (or "Baal")) "^'^ Ind. I. 
 ' Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 35. 
 
 * By Chas. Cook, Edin. : David Douglas, 18S5. 
 ^ Vide Note C to ch. xxiii. of Guy Manneri7ig. 
 
 •^ V. The Outdoor life of the Rev. John Russell: 
 London, 1SS3. A point worth noticing is, that both 
 Mr Russell's breed of terriers and the still more 
 famous "Mustards" and "Peppers" derived their 
 pedigrees, Uke the Ku-hails of Araby, from a mother, 
 not a father : v. book just cited, p. 61 ; et Horcc Sub- 
 seciva, by Dr J. Brown, 1S62 edit., p. 200. 
 
CHAP. I. ON THE ORIGIN OF THE ARABIAN BREED. 241 
 
 Clearly, necessity was the mother of it, and use helped to shape it. That is, the 
 inhabitants of a wild country, abounding in hill-foxes and badgers, bred a race . of 
 terriers which, when properly entered, excelled in the rough sports depicted in the 
 25th and 26th chapters of Guy Mannering. The case now under consideration is 
 not dissimilar. At an early time the Bedouin Arab must gradually have formed his 
 breed of horses in accordance with the sure decree, '' Boni et fortes bonis et fortihi.s 
 creant7i,r." If special and exclusive breeding, directed to a certain object, explain our 
 English race-horse, there is no need to go further for the secret of the Arab's foray- 
 mare. This view is not in conflict with that which has elsewhere been presented of 
 the Bad-u's weak points as a horse-breeder. One may exercise much skill in choosing 
 the parents of each fresh generation out of the preceding one, without possessing a 
 full idea of the more important questions which are here involved. Darwin cites it 
 as an illustration of the natural tendency to preserve the useful, that the savages of 
 Terra del Fuego in times of famine save their cattle and kill off their old women. 
 And so with nations living by the chase, the first rude kind of " selection " is to keep 
 the likeliest puppies in a litter when they will not rear all of them. To do this 
 with the idea of "breeding" comes much later; but the Arabs must very early 
 have given their adherence to "heredity." During a great many generations, as 
 was just now seen, it has formed a part of their system that a mare of renown may 
 add a new strain, called by her name, to one of the sub-groups of Al Kham-sa. 
 This kind of selection may not be, in the full scientific sense, " methodical," but it is 
 tolerably practical. In applying it, the Bedouin are aided by considerable powers 
 of perception. Their code about blood forms a gathering up, it should be 
 remembered, of the results of their experience. A mare's "standing pretty," as 
 the late Sir Tatton Sykes used to call it, is one of many other points which are 
 beyond them ; for galloping, not standing, is what they would breed up to. But a 
 short and upright pastern is an eyesore to them ; and equally so too long a one, 
 especially when it is either too oblique or too upright. The greyhound girth, well 
 spread ribs, and breadth behind the saddle, all delight them. Coffee-house Arabs, 
 when they look over the half-brother of Kirkham and Narellan ^ which is now with 
 us in Baghdad, are very uncomplimentary. A Turkish Pasha lately said that he more 
 resembled a she-camel than a horse. But no son of the desert ever sees him without 
 perceiving that, though of unknown and unaccountable pedigree, he is other than a 
 commoner. A leader of the Aeniza, on noticing his unsexed state, declared that he 
 was as good as a mare ; and that, if he were his, he would sweep the board — that is, 
 an enemy's pastures — with him ! In truth, however, the colt referred to would be as 
 
 1 V. ante, p. 195. The two sons of Chester, which 
 the late Mr White of Sydney sent to Epsom to con- 
 
 2 H 
 
 test the classic race of 1S90, were named by him 
 Kirkham and Narellan. 
 
242 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 out of his element in Sha-mi-ya as Gulliver was in Lilliput and Dr Johnson in the 
 Hebrides. Supposing him to be ridden out in the bloom of condition, the ghaz-u 
 would go one way and he another, with or without his rider, as the Fates might rule. 
 If he survived the first drought, he would never be the same animal afterwards.^ 
 But to resume. If the pairing of superior animals in successive generations have 
 made the Bedouin Arab's breed of horses, a favourable result has been promoted by 
 the circumstance that, instead of having many points to aim at, his one idea is Al 
 GHAZ-u. What gives the Arabian his speed, length of stride, and staying power ? 
 Whence the gamecock throttle ; flat, well-laid, muscular shoulder ; straight-dropped 
 hind-leg, with great thighs and hocks ; powerful ligaments ; symmetrical back ; and 
 admirable length, in proportion, between the elbow and stifle-joints .'' Breeding, 
 we all know, is the answer ; but then, what does that mean ? Not so very long ago 
 it would have been said that "breeding" partly represents the summation, in suc- 
 ceeding generations, of all the characters which have been produced, in individual 
 animals, by use or effort. Darwin thought that "acquired characters," in the limited 
 sense of the effects of use and disuse of parts and organs, are in some cases thus 
 inherited ; but later investigators otherwise explain the facts which our forefathers 
 accepted as evidence of such transmission.^ We do not here presume to discuss 
 this complex question, which has still to be brought to the test of experimental 
 researches. Of course every one admits that, for example, sinewy fore-legs are due, 
 in the individtial, in some measure at least, to the influence of work. One has but 
 to take his stand of a morning near the gate of an Arab town, and observe those 
 who ride in from the desert, to be able to form a shrewd guess, from the proportions 
 of their horses' legs, whether they and their nags are "sons of the road" or idlers. 
 The conclusion which is assailed by some recent writers is, that this greatness of 
 limb, and other similar characters, after having been acqtured in an animal's life- 
 time, tend to reappear in the progeny. The traditional belief that the case is so 
 pervades these pages ; and until science shall finally certify her conclusions, it is best 
 for ordinary people not to be too scientific. 
 
 There is another assumption on which the foregoing remarks have a bearing, 
 
 1 Since the above passage was written, the subject 
 of it has become well known on the Calcutta race- 
 course as Ivo. 
 
 ^ E.g., the refinement of the tushes in the wild 
 boar's domesticated descendants ; and the different 
 characters of the breast, wing, and leg-bones in the 
 goose that cleaves the heavens and the farmyard 
 waddler respectively. India affords special oppor- 
 tunities for observations of this kind in the human 
 species, owing to the prevalent custom, particularly 
 
 in caste-bound communities, of the son pursuing the 
 paternal handicraft or occupation. Those who accept 
 Professor Weismann's theory, according to which the 
 transmission of acquired characters is impossible, 
 argue that if the case had been otherwise, the sinewy 
 arms of the village blacksmith, equally with the clever 
 fingers of the watchmaker, would be inherited by the 
 younger offspring in a higher degree than by the 
 older. 
 
CHAP I. 
 
 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE ARABIAN BREED. 
 
 243 
 
 and that is, that a way of gallophig with straight fore-legs characterises the coursers 
 of Al ghaz-u. Certainly a considerable number of the desert mares exhibit this 
 pecuHar action. It is an interesting question how far it depends on every 
 animal's " points " ; and how far on the youngling's forming its faster paces in the 
 grip of a desert horseman, and over level spaces, instead of being allowed, like 
 the village-bred one, to gallop, cow fashion, without a rider. But the impression 
 which many buyers of Arab horses have that this is, par excellence, the gallop of 
 the race-course,^ does not stand scrutiny. For neither is this style of movement 
 restricted to the Kuhailans, nor does it necessarily indicate pace. It is on record 
 that Touchstone, for example, " went with a perfectly straight knee." In India, 
 many Arabian horses of good racing reputation have displayed this form of action. 
 Such have seemed to cover the ground with but slight effort, while their rivals 
 ploughed the dust behind them.- But we have known and tried several Bedouin 
 " swimmers," which put out their fore-legs like stilts in galloping, and, for want of 
 the racing-like sweep of the haunches, or for other reasons, could not get away 
 from the commonest hack. In the same way, very many Arabs having what is 
 called " round " action, have astonished people equally by their speed and staying 
 power. A celebrated trainer said, that there were only two essential points in the 
 race-horse — legs to carry him the pace, and a heart" to make him use his legs. This, 
 however, is one of the many good things which are true as parables, without being 
 true literally. Balance is better than prettiness ; and a horse may bend his knees, 
 without being either a clambering or a labouring goer. 
 
 So far, only casual references have occurred to in-and-in-breeding as a factor in 
 
 ^ An Indian who lately came our way in quest of true- 
 bred colts, either brought with him, or picked up in 
 coffee-houses, the piece of innocence, that the straight 
 knee action of the Bedouins' horses depended on the 
 desert custom of shackling the stock with iron fetters 
 {kaid) round the pasterns. Accordingly, after making 
 his selections, he hobbled them, pastoral fashion. On 
 riding out to see him and them, we found each colt 
 not only fettered, but tethered to a pole with fathoms 
 of rope, to keep him from playing the fool with his 
 fellows. The fresh desert breezes and the growing 
 barley had so i-aised the animals' spirits, that they 
 were plunging round and round, with both fore-feet 
 off the ground, — the very opposite kind of action 
 from that which it was intended to produce in them. 
 The weight and friction of the irons had caused the 
 formation of splints. Methods which do no harm 
 to famished Bedouin cattle may prove the ruin of 
 corn-fed and idle horses. 
 
 ^ V. Imru '1 Kais' description of this, in line 5 of 
 the passage from his poem which is translated 
 
 ante, p. 143. 
 
 ^ Notwithstanding the late Admiral Rous's " philo- 
 sophic doubts," we do believe Eclipse to have been the 
 greatest galloper and stayer that ever was saddled ; 
 and in addition to being a big horse in every sense 
 — tall of stature, broad of frame, and long in the right 
 places — he had a heart which, when weighed after 
 his death, drew 14 lb. [V. A History of the British 
 Turf, by J. C. Whyte (1840), vol. i. p. 250.) Many 
 good judges have been of opinion that Eclipse's un- 
 beaten record, or rather, the power which he exhibited 
 of passing every rival, like a shot out of a gun, when 
 and where he pleased, depended on the exceptionally 
 full development of the central organ. Somewhat 
 similarly it is affirmed in an old work on cocking, that 
 what was called a bird's "athletic weight" — i.e., the 
 weight at which he would display his greatest courage, 
 strength, and activity, and at which it was considered 
 impossible to keep him for more than twenty four hours 
 — was that under which the proportion of the weight 
 of the heart to the weight of the body was greatest. 
 
244 T^HE ARABIAN AT HOME. book iv. 
 
 the several strains of Al Kham-sa. With every stud-horse in England standing 
 near a line of railway, it is not surprising that all our thoroughbreds are either closely 
 or distantly related. If it be otherwise in the case of the stock of Najd, its diffusion 
 from the Kha-bur river to the Indian Ocean affords an easy explanation. People 
 whose marriage system is as close as that of the Arabs, are little likely to make a 
 bugbear of interbreeding in the mating of their cattle. Nevertheless, common use 
 prescribes a limit. Thus the Aeniza freely bring together colts and fillies by the 
 same sire, out of different mares ; but they do not approve of pairing a colt with 
 his own sister, or a mare with one of her immediate progeny. It may safely be 
 assumed that this restriction, however founded, is beneficial. Several European 
 authorities are of opinion that it is not the inbreeding jz^er .y^ which is injurious, but 
 its tendency, when not guarded by rigid selection, to fix and perpetuate consti- 
 tutional taints and other bad points.^ Considering how rare perfect soundness is, 
 this distinction does not seem a very practical one. At any rate, not all the wise 
 men of Babylon, and far less the Arabian Bedouin, are qualified to breed horses on 
 the in-and-in principle, without the evil results preponderating. 
 
 1 The Marriage of Near Kin, by Mr A. H. Huth. 
 
245 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE TYPICAL ARABIAN. 
 
 AT this late stage it is superfluous to repeat that the typical Arabian is 
 the horse of the Bedouin nations of Najd. Necessarily the blood-horse, or 
 horse of speed, approaches everywhere more or less to one and the same type ; but 
 the best judges will be the most guarded in drawing an ideal pattern, and then 
 declaring that every genuine specimen must resemble it. The variability of animal 
 forms, even in the natural state, is now, thanks to Darwin, well apprehended. The 
 popular generalisation that " like begets like" is accepted with due reference to the 
 fact behind it, that if the offspring were in all cases exact copies of their parents, 
 new breeds would be impossible. And, of course, in artificial varieties the causes of 
 divergence are even more numerous and influential. 
 
 There are two points as to which we wish to be on clear ground, before pro- 
 ceeding to search for a " type " of the thoroughbred Najdi horse. These are, the 
 use of our term "thoroughbred" in connection with the Arabian blood-horse, and 
 the standard by which, in Arab horses, " thorough-breeding " is to be determined. 
 
 I. In what sense is the Arabian variety Thoroughbred ? 
 
 It has been seen that the Arab's word for "thorough-breeding" is a-sd-lat, or 
 the state of being firmly foimded} The a-szl stock of the desert, though now rising, 
 like certain classes of plants, on innumerable stems, instead of on a central one, is 
 theoretically of one breed, which, according to the Arabs, is perfected and estab- 
 lished. It seems a waste of time to notice again the hazy ideas on this subject 
 which several of our countrymen have committed to writing.^ In a pedigree table 
 
 ' V. ante, p. 94. | " V. ante, pp. 7 et seq., et 220. 
 
246 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 of the Arabian thoroughbred stock in Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, Mr Blunt 
 brings in the Newmarket breed in two places — once as a derivation, in the male line 
 only, from the Darley, and again as a side-get of the Godolphin's.^ In the same 
 book the English race-horse is figuratively styled the " bastard cousin " of the 
 Arabian.^ This is pretty well ; but it is eclipsed by Major Upton's great dis 
 covery, that when the waters of the Flood subsided, a pair of horses not unlike 
 the Darley Arabian descended the sides of Ararat.^ 
 
 It is a relief to turn from such glaring absurdities to the technical term 
 "Thoroughbred" of our Stud-book. Among us the meaning of this word is 
 perfectly definite. Its range of application is wide. Not only the blood-horse,^ 
 and other equine breeds, but highly bred animals of every kind, may be denoted 
 by it. This fact, however, gives rise to no confusion of ideas. In every case 
 alike, the essential condition of " thorough-breeding " is, that the pedigree shall 
 be traceable, without break or flaw, to certain approved and recorded progenitors. 
 The modern British race-horse is the product of about two hundred years of 
 exclusive breeding. If any one consider that period all too short for the develop- 
 ment of a thoroughly established, or in Arab parlance a-sil, breed of horses, the 
 field of discussion is open to him. Here it may be said, and truly, that although 
 it was in the beginning of the eighteenth century that our countrymen made their 
 greatest start in horse-breeding, it was not till about a hundred years later that 
 they began systematically to record the pedigrees of the horses and mares from 
 which they bred. When this fact is examined, it is found strongly to bear on 
 the point which is now being made for. The English Stud-book was first 
 regularly started in 1 808 ; and in the preface it was stated that, " with a view to 
 correct the then increasing evil of false and inaccurate pedigrees, the author was 
 in the year 1791 prevailed upon to publish an Introduction to a general Stud-book, 
 consisting of a small collection of pedigrees, which he had extracted from racing 
 calendars and sale papers." That means, that the compiler had to go back for 
 about a century, and glean and piece together such items of information as existed. 
 Mark the result. He was near enough the starting-point to discover with tolerable 
 certainty the names and histories of most of the early fathers of the line. The 
 dates which occupied him seldom went further back than the eighteenth century, 
 and he was free from the necessity of romancing. In 1791, many must have 
 been alive who remembered Lord Godolphin's so-called Arabian. Only about one 
 
 1 op. cit. in Catalog. No. ii, vol. i. p. 276. 
 
 2 Ibid., vol. ii. p. 247. 
 
 3 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. vi. 
 
 * The term " blood-horse " may be merely a vestige 
 of the primitive notion, that there is an essential dif- 
 
 ference between the red corpuscles of the " quality " 
 and the commonalty respectively. But the name also 
 points to that beautiful swelling out of the veins after 
 a gallop, in the racer and his descendants, by means 
 of which the heart and lungs obtain relief 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 THE TYPICAL ARABIAN. 
 
 247 
 
 hundred and twenty years had passed shice the second Charles's Master of the 
 Horse, who was sent to purchase Eastern stock, brought over the " royal mares," 
 upon which, and upon the many proved mares already in the island, were grafted 
 the imported Anatolian, Barb, and Arab elements of the English breed. Never- 
 theless, the comparative shortness of the misty period did not prevent errors. 
 Many doubtful animals were entered in the Stud-book. Many others which ought 
 to have been registered were omitted. There are even grounds for thinking that 
 several of the pedigrees which have come down to us are inaccurate.^ 
 
 A confirmation of the position now reached will be found in connection with 
 the next question also : 
 
 II. On what Evidence does the point of "Thorough-breeding" depend 
 
 IN the Arabian variety ? 
 
 The tree of a-sA-lat is known by its fruits. The Bedouin Arabs hold that a 
 mare which is not a-sil cannot take care of her rider in Al ghaz-u. It may be 
 assumed that they are right in this belief. If they had not discovered that purity 
 of blood was an essential qualification, they would not have been so careful to pro- 
 duce it and maintain it. But obviously we have here a test which lies outside of the 
 European's world. Nobody but a Bad-a-wi appreciates the ideal with which it is 
 connected, or possesses the means of proving that ideal. 
 
 Another form of evidence by means of which a-sd-lat may be certified is the 
 general testimony of the Bedouin. Particular stress must here be laid, however, on 
 the condition that all such witnesses shall be of the Bad-u, and that they shall be 
 actually before one. The difficulties which confront foreigners when they would 
 thus personally and directly appeal to desert folk will be further considered in 
 the sequel. The European who is an honest gentleman runs some risk of being 
 befooled when he attempts to do so ; while the European of the jam-baz school 
 is more interested in making money than in observing facts. This, however, 
 is not the point which is at present under consideration. It has elsewhere been 
 stated that the Bedouin, when approached in their own deserts, declare truly all 
 that they know about a horse's pedigree. The question is. What intrinsic value 
 are we to attribute to what they tell us on this subject ? Here it is necessary to 
 recall what has elsewhere appeared regarding the illiterate state of the Arabs.^ 
 
 ^ In the Stud-book, Eclipse (1764-89) is credited to 
 Marske. But see in The Horse (1829), by quaint 
 John Lawrence, who remembered the morning that 
 
 he was foaled, a different story. 
 - V. ante, p. 132. 
 
248 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Among them knowledge is not an affair of writing. Several of our countrymen 
 have persuaded themselves that, where the Arabs are concerned, Stud records 
 are unnecessary. We would go as far as any one in allowing for the fact that 
 the conditions of life are different in Eastern and Western countries respec- 
 tively. But miracles do not happen in Arabia, any more than in Europe ; and 
 it is everywhere incumbent to keep within the bounds of probability. If 
 any one imagine that strains of horses can be strictly and perfectly preserved, 
 apart from the registration of matings and foalings, let him refer the ques- 
 tion to the great English, Continental, and Australian Stud masters. If it 
 were an affair of memory, who would not rather trust to that of an educated 
 Englishman than to that of desert herdsmen, who cannot even say how many 
 camel-riders are in a troop in front of them, without multiplying the number 
 by about ten ? It is an evident fact that the Bedouin Arabs, aided by the 
 isolation of their deserts, by their well-developed power of orally handing down 
 pedigrees, and by other circumstances, have to a surprising degree succeeded 
 in preserving the approved character of their Ku - hai - lans. But in our 
 opinion the floating accounts of the purity of even their best strains require 
 to be received with some allowance. It may be conceded, though actual proof 
 is wanting, that tribes or families have at different times preserved a mare's 
 lineage for perhaps even a few hundred years, — a pretty liberal allowance, con- 
 sidering all the circumstances. But this is a different matter from assigning 
 to an ancient and widely distributed breed, in which the main guardian of the 
 pedigrees is oral transmission, as high a degree of thorough - breeding as 
 that possessed by our own stock of this St Simon and Ormonde period. We 
 almost hesitate to mention performances on the turf as a guarantee of blood in 
 Arab horses, seeing that the Bedouin do not resort to trials of this kind. As, 
 however, all the jam-bazes lay stress on this view,^ it seems to call for notice. 
 Unquestionably, a high degree of blood is demanded to make a horse in 
 any proper sense a racer. Nobody now thinks of entering a " cocktail," any 
 more than an Arab, for a good race in England. Al ghaz-u calls for a 
 fine turn of speed, and for other qualities which can only be developed through 
 special breeding ; but it does not do so up to the point which racing does. A 
 less perfected type suffices for pursuit and flight, and for galloping from morning 
 
 1 Thus the late Esau bin Curtas {cijite, p. 228), in 
 the 07-ie7iial Sporting Magazme (Calcutta) for March 
 1870, p. 968, writes as follows : — 
 
 " Gentlemen, before purchasing, ought to make 
 searching inquiry regarding the blood. This import- 
 ant precaution should never be neglected. It is 
 
 quite a different thing when a horse has won races; 
 . . . the fact of winning races is proof positive of 
 blood." The italics are ours. Considering what 
 Arab racing is in India, there never was a rasher 
 statement. 
 
CHAP. II. THE TYPICAL ARABIAN. 249 
 
 to night at a moderate pace, than for crucial tests lilve those of the Beacon course. 
 Many — perhaps the majority — of the famous Arabs of Indian turf annals have 
 borne the stamp of thorough-breeding. But many other great winners of the 
 same series, judged by their appearance, must have belonged to the secondary 
 division from which the Bedouin Arab will not breed ; nay, if one of which should 
 by accident approach a Ktt,-hai-la, the indignant owner will bare the arm, and by 
 the rudest conceivable piece of surgery remove the newly vivified ovum. A 
 letter, written in 1887, is before us, from her Majesty's late Consul at Aleppo, 
 Mr Henderson, who states that at first he was an enthusiast for Arab horses 
 and mares, and bought some very good ones. After mentioning that A-sil, 
 the winner of Mr Blunt's races at Newmarket and Sandown, was of his breed- 
 ing, Mr Henderson gives it as the result of his experience that "half-bred horses 
 are much more reliable and useful " than those which the Bedouin account to Al 
 Kham-sa. He further says that for his part he had long ago stopped buying 
 "pure-bred ones." Non nostrttm est tantas componere Hies. On the one hand, 
 who can surrender his innate faith in blood? On the other, it is contrary to the 
 observed facts to imagine that turf performance is a full or conclusive test of 
 pure breeding in Arab horses. 
 
 Another form of evidence on the point before us remains to be mentioned, 
 and that is the indications which are evident to the eyesight. The Arab of the 
 desert does not trust to these external features, any more than we do in the case 
 of our own blood-horses. That which is called in England a " half-bred " may 
 have nineteen-twentieths of Stud-book blood. In good looks, and in every point of 
 physique, he may resemble a true - bred son of Saunterer or Sweetmeat. On 
 the other hand, there have been dams of St Leger winners whose appearance 
 was far from thoroughbred, especially when wearing their winter coat. Apart 
 from Ruff, and the inflexible standard of the winning-post, we possess no means 
 of separating our pure blood-horses from those of less than sixteen quarterings. 
 The Arabs are in the same position, except that, instead of a connected family 
 history, or Stud-book, the chief evidence which they have to guide them is oral 
 tradition. Foreigners may think that there is as manifest a difference between a 
 ka-duh and a Ku-hai-idn as between a " twinkling star and a celestial sun " ; but the 
 Ba-da-wt does not attempt to discriminate between them by the eye alone. When a 
 horse which he has never before seen is shown to him, he asks about his dam and 
 sire. If satisfied on both points, he looks him over; but he neither assumes the 
 pedigree from the appearance, nor attaches importance to the latter apart from the 
 former. When in foray or otherwise he obtains possession of a mare which is only 
 "the daughter of" an a-sfl one — i.e., "half-bred" — he does not continue her line. 
 Living and moving in his own narrow world, he contemptuously affixes the label 
 
 2 I 
 
250 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 of ku-d2ish^ to all horse -stock of which he does not know the parentage. This 
 exclusiveness is entirely bound up with his system of horse-breeding. In India 
 and other countries we occasionally see a flaring ka-dish from I'rak or Syria, which 
 some one has fitted with an Ananias pedigree, employed to regenerate fallen-away 
 breeds, with the usual result that the produce turns out worse than himself The 
 Bedouin nations are safe at least from this dansfer. 
 
 In the preceding remarks we claim to have reduced to order these two sub- 
 jects — viz., the sense in which the Arabian, as compared with the English, blood- 
 horse is "thoroughbred"; and the point up to which memory and oral recital are 
 safely to be trusted as respectively the depositary and the transmitting medium of 
 horses' pedigrees. 
 
 An important practical question next invites us. Among all the strains of 
 blood-horses which the Arabian deserts nurture, is there no pre-eminent strain ? Can 
 we, or can we not, discover one " precious porcelain " of equine clay, every piece of 
 which, while readily distinguishable from counterfeits, closely resembles the other ? 
 
 " Facies non omnibus una. 
 Nee diversa tamen ; qualem decet sororum." ^ 
 
 Palgrave has led people to suppose that there is such a breed. His book of 
 travels contains a description of about three hundred " most consummate " specimens 
 of it, which he says he saw in A-mir Fai-sal's stables at Ar Ri-adh in 1861. The 
 passage referred to has been quoted by numerous writers, but it is necessary again 
 to cite it. The words are : — 
 
 " Never had I seen or imagined so lovely a collection. Their stature was indeed some- 
 what low ; I do not think that any came fully up to fifteen hands — fourteen appeared to me 
 about their average ; but they were so exquisitely well shaped that want of greater size 
 seemed hardly, if at all, a defect. Remarkably full in the haunches, with the shoulder of a 
 slope so elegant as to make one, in the words of an Arab poet, ' go raving mad about it ' ; a 
 little, a very little saddle-backed, just the curve which indicates springiness without any weak- 
 ness ; a head broad above, and tapering down to a nose fine enough to verify the phrase of 
 ' drinking from a pint-pot,' did pint-pots exist in Nejed ; a most intelligent and yet a singularly 
 gentle look, full eye, sharp, thorn-like, little ear ; legs, fore and hind, that seemed as if made of 
 
 1 PI. of ka-dish, g.v., p. 47, ajiie, et f.n. 3. This 
 word is so current among the Arabs that Niebuhr, 
 and after him other writers, make " Kochlani " {^Ku- 
 hai-lan) and " Kadeschi " {ka-disli) their two leading 
 subdivisions of the Arabian breed. If we understand 
 by the two terms no more than a-sU and less than a- 
 sil, respectively; we shall have a useful enough rough 
 
 classification. But " Kadeschi " must not be mistaken 
 for a strain name. The ka-dish merely is the pariah 
 of horse-flesh. 
 
 2 Not all featured alike ; 
 And yet not different — such likeness as sisters ought 
 to have. 
 
 — Ovid : Metam., Lib. ii. 
 
CHAP. II. THE TYPICAL ARABIAN. 251 
 
 hammered iron, so clean and yet so well twisted with sinew ; a neat round hoof, just the 
 requisite for hard ground, the tail set on, or rather thrown out, at a perfect arch ; coats smooth, 
 shining, and light ; the mane long, but not overgrown nor heavy ; and an air and step that 
 seemed to say, 'Look at me; am I not pretty?' their appearance justified all reputation, all 
 value, all poetry. The prevailing colour was chestnut or grey ; a light bay, an iron colour, 
 white, or black, were less common ; full bay, flea-bitten, or piebald, none. But if asked what 
 are, after all, the specially distinctive points of the Najdee horse, I should reply, the slope of 
 the shoulder, the extreme cleanness of the shank, and the full, rounded haunch, though every 
 other part, too, has a perfection and a harmony unwitnessed (at least by my eyes) anywhere 
 else." 1 
 
 A poet of the modern school says, or sings : — 
 
 " When Nebuchadnezzar went out to grass. 
 With the horned cattle and the patient ass, 
 He said, as he tasted the unwonted food, 
 This may be wholesome, but it is not good." 
 
 And in the same manner Palgrave's delineation may be pretty, but it is not 
 true. It is the work of a penman, not of a horseman. Who ever saw a "perfect 
 arch," whether circular or pointed, formed by a horse's tail ? It is the case that a 
 flag-like carriage of this part is characteristic of the Arabian blood-horse. That is, 
 it helps to distinguish him from horses of other classes. The Bedouin, when a foal 
 is dropped, raise and press back its tail with the hand or with a stick ; and they say 
 that the stylish manner in which their horses carry the tail out from the quarters is 
 owing to the set thus given to it. Another equally innocent desert operation will be 
 noticed afterwards, but we are not yet done with Palgrave. It is a matter of fact 
 in England, where the astutest of mankind, from Prime Ministers down to betting- 
 list keepers, are always trying to breed up to models, that even half-a-dozen level- 
 bred animals are seldom, if ever, shown in any one class. And we would like to 
 know how a stud of three hundred, all with the same curve of " saddle-back," and, 
 except in height and colour, as like one another as so many Geneva watches, 
 can have been collected in Arabia. If they were obtained by breeding, an incred- 
 ible number, of which they formed the pick, must have been produced in the 
 Amir's own pastures. If purchasing agents brought them in from every quarter, 
 the men who served Amir Fai-sal must have been of no common kind. Under any 
 circumstances, Palgrave's account relates to a period to which it is needless to go 
 back. The collapse of the Wahabite Empire has been incidentally noticed. Its 
 capital, Ar Ri-adh, is a ba-lad mat, or died- out place ; and its secular state is 
 transferred to Amir Muhammad's city, Ha-yil. Comparatively few travellers now 
 spread their carpets, and hang their belts and arms, in the guest-hall of the Ibnu 
 's Su-ti'd family. The mangers in the palace-yards are choked with weeds. The 
 
 ' Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 7, vol. ii. pp. 93, 94. 
 
252 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 imperial mares of Palgrave's story are as much things of the past as is the collection 
 whfch the Messrs Tattersall dispersed at the sale at Hampton Court on the death 
 of King William IV.i 
 
 In this book no attempt will be made to draw up a regular description of the 
 typical Arabian. The aim is, less to define an ideal than to exhibit approved 
 animals that have existed ; and pictorial representation is indispensable for that pur- 
 pose. The seven horses which form the subjects of our seven full-size illustrations 
 have this in common, that they were brought from the Arabian ports to India 
 through the ordinary trade channels. At first the only real vouchers for them were 
 their good looks. To this day their " records " are simply the proofs which they 
 afforded on Indian race-courses of speed and stoutness, heart and honesty. On the 
 point of long ancestry, every reader must draw his own conclusions, in regard to 
 each of them, from the presumptive evidence which their several figures supply. 
 To us they do not all appear to touch the same high level in respect of pedigree. 
 Nevertheless, the reader may, if he will, accept all the seven as "typical "; and the 
 three whose portraits appear in the present chapter are designed respectively to 
 serve for examples of the medium-sized Arabian, the large Arabian, and the dwarf 
 Arabian. We shall presently come back to these three models, with the object of 
 further illustrating through them the breed which they adorned. But in view of the 
 fact just stated, that the history, in Arabia, of the series represented by them is, at 
 the most, a matter of hearsay, let us first exhibit another group belonging to a dif- 
 ferent category. None of the horses which are figured in the opposite picture ever 
 heard the saddling-bell. Not the jam-b^zes, but persons as distinguished as an 
 I-mam of Muscat, and others, selected them as worthy representatives of the race 
 of Ku-hai-lan. They have every appearance of being of one breed, if not precisely 
 of one type. In the line of Eclipse the several leading strains or admixtures are 
 not less remarkable for their differences than for their general inter-resemblances, 
 and any one can distinguish, for example, a Blacklock from a Venison. Of course, 
 the same thing is to be looked for in Al Kham-sa. The group which is placed 
 opposite brings together some of the very cream of the stock of Najd. We consider 
 Nos. I and 6 pre-eminently typical. Sultan Su-u d, for fifty-two years the I-mam of 
 Muscat, and master of all the 
 
 " banks of pear], and palmy isles " ^ 
 
 ^ At the sale alluded to the two Arabian mares 
 from Muscat fetched but fifty guineas and one hun- 
 dred and fifty guineas respectively, though stinted to 
 The Colonel, winner of the Doncaster St Leger, for 
 which his Majesty George IV. had given four thou- 
 sand guineas. The two stallions from the same quar- 
 ter, the Black Arabian and the Bay Arabian, figured 
 
 more creditably in the sale-ring. The former, the 
 very much admired Sultan, was taken, for five hun- 
 dred and eighty guineas, by an agent of the King of 
 Wiirtemberg ; and the latter for four hundred and ten 
 guineas. 
 
 2 Moore, in Lalla Rookh. 
 
(3) "Den'hh: 
 
^^ f 
 
CHAP. ri. 
 
 THE TYPICAL ARABIAN. 
 
 253 
 
 of Oman, would not have sent to a king of England anything short of the best. 
 He whose eye retains the images of the "grey mare" and "black Arabian" will 
 never want for authentic models of the Ku-hai-lan. Youatt chose the head and madh- 
 bah ^ of the latter for the frontispiece of his well-known book. He describes the head 
 as " inimitable in the broadness and squareness of the forehead ; the smallness of 
 the ears ; ^ the prominence and brilliancy of the eye ; the shortness and fineness of 
 the muzzle ; the width of the nostril ; the thinness of the lower jaw ; and the 
 beautifully developed course of the veins." ^ He might also have called attention to 
 another feature of the breed which the same head exhibits, — namely, the fossa- 
 like depression,* as in the antelopes, across the face, between the forehead and the 
 muzzle. No. 2 in the group, a Havi-dd-ni-ya Sim-ri, is also characteristic. No. 3 
 is the Najdian skirmisher. Dervish, whose history was given at p. 165, ante. Not 
 much is -known of Nos. 4 and 5. The originals of both appear in Lt.-Col. Ham. 
 Smith's standard work on the Nahi,ral History of the Horse. The one forms a 
 representation of an Eastern charger much associated with the fame of the first 
 Napoleon. 5 The other illustrates a breed "^ " shaped like greyhounds, and destitute 
 of flesh, but of high spirit and prodigious endurance," which is preserved by the 
 Arabs on the sandy plains south of Atlas, in the north-west part of Africa. The 
 remaining figure in the group is copied from Stonehenge's book on the Horse. 
 The original of it was Sha'-ban, the property of H.M. the King of Wiirtemberg. 
 
 ' Lit., place to luliich the knife is put. In all per- 
 fect Arabians the windpipe runs exquisitely into the 
 throat. 
 
 2 V.post,^. 255. 
 
 3 The Horse, by W. Youatt (1855), p. 22. 
 * Called by the Arabs af-iias, for af-tas. 
 
 '" Lt.-Col. Ham. Smith omits to give any explanation 
 of the illustration which is entitled by him " Marengo, 
 Bonaparte's Arab." His work was published in 1S43. 
 Perhaps it may be assumed that his engraving of 
 Marengo follows one of the portraits made by vari- 
 ous artists of a horse which, after Napoleon's last 
 battle, came into the possession of Lord Petre, and 
 subsequently of the late General Angerstein. The 
 General believed the horse to be " JMarengo, barb- 
 charger of Napoleon, ridden by him at Marengo, 
 Austerhtz, Jena, Wagram, in the campaign of Russia, 
 and finally at Waterloo." Many have doubted General 
 Angerstein's favourite, which he kept and bred from 
 near Ely, ever having been at Waterloo at all. And 
 naturally such sceptics are even more incredulous of 
 the story that one and the same horse carried Bona- 
 parte in the Marengo campaign (1800), and, fifteen 
 years later, in the final act of his marvellous military 
 
 career. It is pretty certain that Napoleon brought 
 over from Egypt, in 1799, after the battle of Abu-Kir, 
 a light-grey barb, which he rode at Marengo. Either 
 this animal, or another of the same colour called A'li, 
 taken at the battle of the Pyramids, in Egypt, in 
 179S, may have been the "small horse" which De- 
 laberre Blaine, \\'hose working period was in the first 
 half of our century, delineated in his Rural Sports 
 (p. 245), with the explanation that he saw it in the 
 Jardi7i des Plantes, where, owing to Bonaparte being 
 " so fond of it," they usually kept it. In twenty years, 
 nineteen chargers were killed under Napoleon in sixty 
 general engagements ; and the chronicler is unborn 
 who can unfold the histories and services of his 
 Marengo, Marie, Austerlitz, A'li, and Jaffa, all of 
 which were either grey or white in colour. All that 
 can be certainly said on this point is, that a white 
 Arab became part of the Napoleonic legend. When, 
 during the Second Empire, Meisonnier bi'oke upon 
 the artistic world with a series of pictures illustrative 
 of Bonaparte's campaigns, he necessarily set the hero 
 on an Eastern charger of this royal colour. 
 
 " Locally designated Shu-ra-ba-tu 'r rth, or D)-inker 
 of the wind. 
 
254 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. book iv. 
 
 A horse of Sha'-ban's appearance is, in his way, as great a triumph of breeding as 
 are our own successful racers, champion shorthorns, and Waterloo Cup winners. 
 
 And now to speak of the three full-page illustrations of this chapter. 
 
 The desert Arab's natural perception of the essential points of a blood-horse has 
 already been noticed. For horse-talk, and betting on horses, our island is beyond 
 the reach of competition ; and there is no horseman like the Englishman when he is 
 a horseman. But in the martial clans of Arabia a knowledge of horses, be it great 
 or small, is truly national. That is, it forms the common possession of every man, 
 woman, and stripling. Not merely a class, or a profession, but thousands of deeply 
 interested breeders, generation after generation, are to be credited with the pro- 
 duction of a stamp of horse like Greyleg. The author's memory unfortunately 
 carries him back to Greyleg's time, and he can vouch for the truth of the likeness 
 of him which is here given. The original of it is a water-colour portrait, from the 
 life, which we bought of W. Brewty, the rider of him in all but seven of his eighty 
 races. The horse was brought to India, from Ku-wait or Bussorah, in a dealer's 
 string. Judging from the very moderate price which sufficed to buy him at Mysore, 
 his importer must have had him on easy terms from the Arabs. We saw him, at 
 Bombay in 1864, walk to the starting-post for the Forbes Stakes in company with 
 a T. B. E. mare, a daughter of Harkaway, to whom, in the race which followed, he 
 gave a complete go-by ; and he never so much as saluted her. Twenty-five years 
 later, we were informed by Brewty that the horse was put to stud in his green old 
 age, and grew very troublesome and unmanageable. Perhaps it may be inferred 
 from this, and from the smallness of his original price, that his Arab breeders, owing 
 to some objection to his pedigree, refused him the opportunity of transmitting his 
 form and qualities. But, on the other hand, he may have been a stolen treasure ; 
 or his people may have sold him because of his strain being fully represented 
 among them. It is best to keep clear of comparisons, and not claim for any horse 
 superiority to all his kind. Like many a good horse in England, from Gimcrack 
 down to Little Wonder, Greyleg was of comparatively small size, and did not exceed 
 fourteen hands and one inch at the withers. Perhaps there have been faster ones, 
 though, for an Arab, he possessed a rare turn of speed. In a race he was lazy, and 
 needed to be wakened up in the middle of it. Several of the few defeats which he 
 suffered were caused by his being over-indulged in the first part of the journey, so 
 that some rival, which he could easily have beaten, instead of receiving his quietus 
 early in the race, was left to come with a rush, and catch him on the winning-post. 
 In every point of outward form, Greyleg was typically Arabian. No one who has seen 
 him is likely to live long enough to see another equal to him. It is not, however, 
 as a "high-mettled racer" that he is here depicted. If he had been the slowest 
 of the slow, he would equally have been chosen to represent his family in these 
 
30 
 
 to 
 
 00 
 
 S. "SP 
 
 
 HI 
 
 J 
 
 ,1 
 
 to 
 
 DO 
 
 ^ " 
 
 
 1^ M J 
 
 o I f 
 
CHAP. II. ■ THE TYPICAL ARABIAN. 255 
 
 pages. From head to heel he is a Ku-hai-lan. Those who beheve pure blood to 
 be the secret at once of racing form, durability, symmetry, and beauty, may appeal 
 to him for proof; but this view is not just now before us. Our immediate object 
 is to trace in " the little grey horse," as far as possible, the essential features of the 
 desert breed. It will be seen hereafter, when the colours of the Arabian are spoken 
 of, that Greyleg's colour is one of the praised ones. His skin was of the tradi- 
 tional ku-hail colour, which an Arab poet says is " blacker than charcoal." When 
 in his prime, his silver-grey coat was more interspersed with nutmeg roan than 
 perhaps the picture indicates ; and the red spots in it resembled those on the 
 speckled shoulders of a sea-trout. Beginning with the tout ensemble, or general 
 appearance, what superb quality meets us ; what length and depth and substance ; 
 and what unison of form, from the elastic and capacious nostril to the tail as light 
 and airy as falling water ! The outlines present no abrupt transitions ; the junction 
 of the neck and shoulder forms a plane and only slightly undulating surface ; the 
 ribs come out from the spine barrel fashion ; he is beautiful alike behind the saddle 
 and before it. What shape and finish are in the head and throat ! The ears are 
 not short and not long — though long ears may be seen in Arabians of the highest 
 class — but loose and slender, and pointed like a well-cut pen.^ There is none of 
 that narrowness between the eyes which in several of our own strains denotes a 
 most undesirable form of " cuteness " : the forehead is very broad ; and the eye is 
 large and prominent, and brimful of honesty, courage, and gentleness. Then see 
 the neck! To enable a horse "to run with the stout or wait with the speedy," a 
 strong, deep, broad neck is essential ; and Greyleg's neck was a true model, equally 
 removed from the weak and tapering and from the bellator eqtms or equestrian statue 
 types ; having its great muscle {splenius) as sharply cut as the blade of a Damascus 
 scimitar, and the windpipe full of play and freedom. Mark next the chest and 
 arms ; the depth from the withers to the shoulder-points ; the greyhound dip to 
 hold a powerful heart, and lungs of sufficient volume ; the long forearms ; square 
 bony knee; short cannon, with tendons behind it bigger than itself; and large, 
 strong, elastic pasterns. It takes a great deal of breeding to get the middle-piece as 
 true-made as it was in Greyleg, who, with all his general length, as shown by the 
 reach of ground which he stood over, had a model back and loins. The importance 
 of the last-mentioned parts has elsewhere been noticed. But a shoulder running 
 far into the back is so essential that, instead of " loins and hind-quarters," " loins, 
 back, and shoulder" sounds more like the real conjunction. It will be perceived 
 that Greyleg had not the " straight-dropped " hind-leg, like a camel's, which is often 
 
 ' The poet Ta-ra-fa describes his riding-camel's 1 a marl: of her nobiUty of breed, 
 ears as pointed, or sliarpeiiedj and mentions this as 1 
 
256 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. book iv. 
 
 seen in racers. He had wide hips, and a broad pelvis. We have never seen a 
 horse of his class better to stand behind or follow. If there was anything angular 
 or projecting about him, it was his haunch-bones. In breadth across the quarter 
 from the stifle backwards, he was very good. The chief point noticeable in his 
 hind-legs was their muscularity, and the extraordinary play which he made with 
 them in his faster paces. In his time horses were galloped in clothing, and Brewty 
 loved to be out before daylight ; but Greyleg's friends could always recognise him, 
 when he was set in motion, by the rapidity with which he threw forward his 
 hind-legs. 
 
 Another Arabian race-horse of the same period. Hermit, well deserves to 
 stand before the reader by the side of Greyleg. Hermit measured fifteen hands 
 at the withers, and all his points were in due proportion ; but not the most fas- 
 tidious eye could find fault with him on the score of quality. On the Bengal 
 turf he was, among Arabs, the Eclipse of his day. It is true that on one occasion 
 he sustained a defeat from Greyleg. At that time the Indian railway system was 
 in the early stage, and a Calcutta horse rarely had an opportunity of meeting a 
 Mysore one. For once, however, fate so arranged, and Hermits owner, with the 
 instinct of a true sportsman, sent him out, like a knight-errant, to challenge and 
 encounter Greyleg. The result was that which is so often witnessed when one 
 horse is running on his own ground, and the other is away from home. No horse is 
 the same every day, and over all courses. The fact that Greyleg lowered Hermit's 
 flag at the Mysore meeting proved no more than that, on the day, over the course, 
 and as the race was run, the Calcutta champion was somehow at a disadvantage. 
 The likeness of Hermit which is here given is reproduced from an oil-painting in 
 the possession of his owner, General M. J. Turnbull. One of the truest friends 
 that man or horse ever had, Mrs M. Turnbull, did us the honour of painting a 
 copy of the picture expressly for this volume. The eye which is set on picture- 
 book ideals will perhaps dwell with greater pleasure on Greyleg than on Hermit ; 
 but the more of substance united with quality which the Ku-hai-lan exhibits, the 
 more valuable is he. It is possible that not a few of our countrymen who have 
 seen good Arabs may say of our portraits of Greyleg and Hermit, that they never 
 came across flesh-and-blood animals which agreed with them. The reason is not 
 far to seek. Horses of this stamp are extremely uncommon. In the palmy days 
 of cocking we know what innumerable broods of black-reds and duck-wings the 
 hero of the main represented. And in the same way the Arabs breed a countless 
 number of plain animals for every distinguished specimen. 
 
 Our third illustration. Rex, is partly chosen because of the opportunity which 
 he offers of speaking of size as a feature of the "typical" Arabian. A horse's 
 general size is not to be confounded with his mere height at the withers. Once, 
 

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CHAP. II. 
 
 THE TYPICAL ARABIAN. 
 
 257 
 
 in a dispute about the comparative dimensions of England and Scotland, the 
 northener clinched the argument by requiring that before the measurement was 
 taken, all the mountains in the latter country should be flattened ! And in the 
 same way, many a pony contains sufficient material to make into a sixteen-hand 
 horse, good enough for riding-school purposes ; while many of the lathy sort, if 
 compressed into " little big " ones, would do more credit to their owners. A 
 leggy horse may suit a long and lanky rider, or serve to elevate as a pair of 
 high-heeled boots does a general officer above his aides-de-camp ; but in order 
 to make a "great-sized" steed, a deep and broad body, and not a set of stilts, is 
 wanted. The tape conveys more useful information as to a horse's measurements 
 than the standard does, and the latter, after having been held over the withers, 
 should always be used over the couplings also.^ Many of our countrymen are 
 under the impression that no horse which exceeds about fourteen hands and two 
 
 ' Eclipse " rose very little on his withers," and was 
 "higher behind than before;" %'. Stubbs' engraving, 
 on p. 177 of Sidney's Book of the Horse. In the 
 Arabian, also, the hind-quarters are frequently higher 
 than the fore-hand ; and in picking Arabs for racing, 
 it is not a bad plan to take Eclipse for a model. The 
 
 subjoined likeness (from the Orictttal Sporting Maga- 
 zine, June 1870) of the Hon. A. Stewart's famous 
 Arab, Akbar, shows a horse among whose measure- 
 ments were " fourteen hands and half an inch at the 
 withers, and fourteen hands two and a half inches 
 over the loins ; girth, five feet and six inches." 
 
 B. A. H., Akbar. 
 
 Akbar's owner wrote that he was "an excellent 
 charger, hunter, and pig-sticker." The Newmarket 
 lad who rode him in Calcutta said that he was one 
 of the only two " real good movers " which he had 
 seen in India. The honest bay had "largish ears," 
 a zebra stripe down the back, and a slightly mulish 
 
 look. At first he was more laughed at than admired. 
 After he had shown his quality, all the self- styled 
 judges, as usual, merely said that no one could 
 form an opinion of an Arab. If they had carefully 
 looked him over, perhaps they would have learned 
 a lesson. 
 
 2 K 
 
2S8 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. book iv. 
 
 inches in lieiglit can be a genuine Arabian ; but this is a mistake. Without doubt, 
 the taller a horse is, especially if he be met with towards the Tigris and the 
 Euphrates, the more care is necessary in making sure that he is true bred. But 
 if a stature of from thirteen to iifteen hands be given to the horse of Najd, we 
 shall not be chargeable with founding on exceptions. Food, per se, has a direct 
 influence on this point. The workhouse boy does not usually grow into a man 
 of the farmer build ; and it has been seen how, as a rule, the Arabs treat their 
 mares and horses. Apart from special causes, the small fry enormously out- 
 number their larger kindred in most classes of animals. In the Ku-hai-lin family, 
 the proportion of Galloways to horses of superior size and substance must be as 
 several hundreds to one unit. 
 
 Rex affords a beautiful illustration of the dwarf Arabian. For many years 
 he was a prominent figure on the turf in India. He ran brilliantly, not only in 
 pony and Galloway races, but over the longest courses, and in races for all Arabs. 
 At last a sort of Indian Ibnu 'r Ra-shtd, H.H. the Maharajah of Jodhpore, in 
 Rajputana, added him, at a princely price, to his vast stud of English, Australian, 
 Arab, and other celebrities. His appearance here is due to H.H. the Maharajah's 
 kindness in supplying a life-like sketch in oil of him. Rex's height varied from 
 thirteen hands and two inches to slightly over it, at different times and places of 
 measurement. His importer was the horse and camel merchant, A'-id bin Ta- 
 mi-mi of Najd, who, from his home in U'-nai-za, a township of the Ka-sim pro- 
 vince, collects colts for India. There is no worthier or honester man of his class 
 than A'-id, and most winters see him and his red cloak in Bombay with horses. 
 He and many others have related how Rex was bought as a weanling from his 
 breeders for the easy equivalent of about ^8 of English money. As usually hap- 
 pens, his merits escaped notice. Even after his arrival in India his merits remained 
 unnoticed until his performances revealed them. Miniature Arabians of his stamp 
 just now possess a special interest for sportsmen, owing to the prevalence of 
 Galloway-racing, pony-racing, and polo, particularly in India. It is a misnomer 
 to call horses like him ponies. The little ones for which our island, Australasia, 
 and Arabia are now so diligently searched by dealers, are in reality blood-horses 
 which, from whatever cause or causes, fall short of the ordinary standard. Arabia, 
 as has been already noticed, yields no breed resembling our Shetlanders ; and 
 of course the production, systematically, of pedigree ponies, such as are to be 
 seen at Rigmaden Park in Westmoreland, and in a few other places, is beyond 
 the range of the Bedouin. The Najdi horse, when he is undersized, too often 
 is small-framed, light-boned, and narrow; and one like Rex is perhaps even 
 harder to find than one like Hermit. A diminutive Ku-hai-lan is called by the 
 Bedouin hi-sdn ka-sir — i.e.. a short horse — which is exactly what he is; but the 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 THE TYPICAL ARABIAN. 
 
 259 
 
 jam-bazes borrow the Indian word for pony, tat-td} Every time that an unusual 
 price is obtained in India for a small Arabian, the Bedouin of Sha-mi-ya and 
 Al Ja-zi-ra hear of it. A Shekh of the Ae-ni-za lately sent to beg of us a 
 thirteen hands and two inches measuring standard. A piece of thin brass wire, 
 fifty-four inches long, was accordingly sent to him, but he will not know how to 
 use it. Jam-bazes who would be very clever carry measuring-rods ; but most mem- 
 bers of the fraternity buy every animal which looks like " keeping the money 
 together," and trust to " luck " on the day of measurement. Many good sports- 
 men look coldly on pony-racing, on the ground that it interferes with the "legiti- 
 mate" game. A more serious objection is, that it encourages the practice of 
 paring horses' hoofs to the quick just before the official measurement, and keep- 
 ing the poor animals without food and sleep, so that they shall droop under 
 the standard. At the principal racing centres in India there are farriers and 
 others who profess to be experts in the nefarious art of thus "cutting down" 
 horses. Another effect of pony-racing in India is to promote the influx of counter- 
 feit Arab horses. In the year of writing, we chanced to reach Mu-ham-ma-ra, 
 after a long march through Persia, just when the jam-bazes were assembling at 
 the sea-coast, like the swallows about the same season in England, before taking- 
 flight with their year's purchases to India. There happened to be a good-looking 
 ka-dish, young and under " pony height," among our baggage-horses, and a dealer 
 bouorht him as soon as he was unsaddled. A month later we saw the same 
 animal standing in the corner box of a Bombay commission-stable. At first this 
 appeared to be the height of audacity on his owner's part, but the fellow had not 
 miscalculated. In a short time a highly placed and highly paid official of the 
 Government accepted the late carrier of our pots and pans as of the " breed of 
 Solomon," paid a ridiculous price for him, and despatched him to Calcutta. " Am 
 
 ' Among the few indigenous Indian things which 
 British rule has spared is the common tat-ti'i, of from 
 nine to thirteen hands. Now, as in Akbars time, this 
 active creature is to be seen on every road, carrying 
 an "undivided Hindu family." That is, a "senior" 
 and a "junior" wife, the latter probably with babies, 
 are seated on him, atop of many a bag of household 
 stuff, with innumerable sundries, not forgetting the 
 parrot's cage, tied, or hung, around them. The proud 
 possessor of all this happiness trudges at the tail, to 
 apply the stick where wanted. The tat-tii's place in 
 agriculture is to take produce to the market. In 
 certain localities he comes out in harness. When 
 the Bengah needs something faster than his "cow- 
 cart," he mounts a one-horse vehicle called an ek-ka, 
 in connection with which whole provinces are famous 
 
 for what truly are blood - tat-tus. The tat - tds of 
 Western India have been increased in size by the 
 superior climate and by freer crossing. In his mili- 
 tary capacity, the tat-tu is now losing ground before 
 the mule, but no army moves without him. His 
 hardness is astonishing. After the longest day, a 
 fight with one of his companions seems to rein- 
 vigorate him. If he is borne on the strength of a 
 regiment, a corn ration is issued for him ; but his 
 attendant generally saves him the trouble of eating 
 it. If the property of a camp-follower, his fore-legs 
 are tied together after his burden is taken off, and 
 he is left to hop about in quest of what will seri'e 
 him. Nevertheless, many a gallant boar has been 
 laid low from the back of a tat-tia which has had a 
 little good keep. 
 
26o THE ARABIAN AT HOME. book iv. 
 
 I not thine own ass ? " the honest quadruped seemed to say to us, as he was being 
 galloped up and down before his new owner. Inside of a yard, after a long course 
 of eating and sleeping, with a couple of horse-keepers to polish him, the I'ra-kt 
 mongrel will look as if the place could not contain him ; but on the open plain he 
 draws in his horns. If he be put in training, the clumsy neck and long flat 
 barrel will not lone remain hidden. These remarks are not directed at the 
 jam-bazes. As long as people in India continue to buy I'ra-ki cattle, at prices not 
 unaffected by turf and polo honours in prospect, they may depend on a full supply of 
 the article. And, moreover, there is no reason to suppose that the dealers whose 
 homes are in Najd often bring round ka-dishes. A'-id bin Ta-mi-mi, and many 
 of his associates, shun both Bussorah and Muhammara. Such men march their 
 horses straight to Ku-wait, and, in their Semitic love of cheapness, as well as to 
 escape Persian contacts, ship them in Arab baghlas, or sailing-boats, instead of 
 steamers, at the risk of losing several animals during the protracted and uncertain 
 voyage. 
 
 The next aspect of the typical Arabian which has to be presented to the reader 
 is his colour. No question is more frequently put to us on the subject of Arab 
 horses than what is the correct or the best colour ? In England an antiquated idea 
 lingers that the authentic Arab must be grey. A most distinguished predecessor 
 in this consulate. General Sir H. C. Rawlinson, exhibited in 1864 a bay Arabian, 
 stated "to have a pedigree of four hundred years"; and London actually objected 
 to him on the score of his being a bay, and not a grey. This illusion is sanctioned 
 by Palgrave, who says in his article " Arabia " in the Ency. Brit} that " dark 
 bay never" occurs in the "genuine Nejdee." If by "dark bay" he meant dark 
 brown or quasi black, the statement might be received, subject to qualification. ^ 
 But speaking of " dark bay " as understood by horsemen, every Arab prizes it. In 
 rhapsodies about horses by desert riders, we have twice seen the bay colour set 
 above every other.^ In one such passage the descriptive used is ah-mar, meaning 
 red} Perhaps ah-mar includes chestnut. And perhaps the same word denotes in 
 strictness the bright or golden bay. But unquestionably the ancient Arabic word 
 kii-mait which Im-ru '1 Kais uses signifies dark bay. Kti-mait is explained in 
 dictionaries as the dark red /nte, verging towards black, of the fresh ripe date. A 
 classical Arabian poet, in telling his audience that his hunter was ku-mait, says that 
 the colour was not an uncertain one, such as a man would have to be put to his oath 
 about, but that of the herb with which the hide that has been dyed is dyed a second 
 time. The reader may depend upon it that bay is now as well established a colour 
 
 ^ Vol. ii. p. 241. 
 
 ^ See, however, a7ite, p. 57. 
 
 ^ V. ante, pp. 61 and 143. 
 
 '' The feminine form of ah-?iiar, with the def article, 
 lingers in Europe in the name of the historical hill- 
 fortress, and palace of the Moorish kings of Granada. 
 
CHAP. II. THE TYPICAL ARABIAN. 261 
 
 in Al Kham-sa as it was before the Arabs possessed written compositions. It 
 would be impossible to quote a higher authority on the colours of Arabian horses 
 than the late A-mir Fai-sal of Najd. His Highness informed Colonel Pelly that 
 the finest Arabian horses may be of any colour ; that the prevalent colour among the 
 first blood was various shades of grey ; that, as a rule, the foal received its colour 
 from its sire ; that, on the whole, colour went for little, and height for nothing, and 
 that blood was everything.^ Further information regarding the colours of Arabian 
 horses is presented in a convenient form in the Table which is included in this 
 chapter. 
 
 Lieut.-Col. Ham. Smith, whose classic work on horses is that of an accom- 
 plished naturalist, describes the Arabian breed as one of " great admixture " ; ^ and 
 this view is illustrated by the diversity of the colours which are displayed by it. At 
 the same time, the diversity has its limits. Thus, the dun colour is most unusual 
 in Arabian horses. Sooty blacks prevail in the vulgar stock of the pastoral and 
 ao-ricultural Kurds round Kar-kuk and Mosul, whose oxen also show a cjreat deal 
 of the same colour. There are, however, many different classes of black horses, and 
 those of the Kurds can have no real relationship with the black Arabians, one of 
 which was taken by Youatt as a model. Not half-a-dozen Arabians of this colour 
 have made footprints on the turf in India. Occasionally we hear of a noble black 
 which is the boast of the Ae-ni-za ; but such of the colour as come our way too 
 much resemble the dismal quadrupeds which in Europe are reserved for the last 
 scene of all. Practically, the Ku-hai-lan colours are bay and chestnut, and the 
 numerous different shades of grey and roan. Nobody can pretend to say of any 
 one of these colours that it is more "typical" than another. 
 
 It is well known that there are several knotty points concerning colour which 
 the most eminent investigators of Europe and America are still discussing. Such 
 questions do not bear more directly on Arab horses than on horses generally ; and 
 the results of horse-breeding among the Arabs offer little, if any, guidance in regard 
 to them. But before passing from colour, we wish just to indicate some of the 
 various questions which are connected with it. 
 
 First, then, is there any warrant for the common impression that a horse's 
 character may be inferred from the colour of his hairy covering ? We have all heard 
 of " temperaments " — the nervous, the bilious, the sanguine, and the lymphatic — and 
 their combinations, and of the indications of them which the colour of the hair is 
 supposed to furnish in human beings. It is certain that the leading peculiarities of 
 these temperaments, denoting differences in brain and muscle, circulation and diges- 
 tion, are characteristic in horses also not merely of the different breeds, but, in a 
 
 '■ op. cit. in Catalog. No. 28, p. 55 ; et v. ante, p. 36. | ^ Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 22, p. 210. 
 
262 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 TABLE OF THE COLOURS 
 
 ^.—COLOURS AKIN TO BAY. 
 
 Arabic Names. 
 
 Horse. 
 
 Ku-mait 
 
 Ah-mar 
 
 Ash-kar 
 
 Mare. 
 
 Ham-ra 
 
 Shak-ra 
 
 Ad-ham 
 
 As-wad 
 
 Dah-ma 
 
 Sau-da 
 
 Explanations. 
 
 Dark bay 
 
 ■ Bay. As applied to 
 horses, K21. - mait 
 and ah-mar are 
 the same 
 
 Chestnut 
 
 'Equally "coal-black" ' 
 and dark brown. 
 If not black, so 
 black as to pass 
 for black 
 
 Black 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 " Bay with black points " is As-da. 
 
 The Arabs use " Al Ah-mar " to denote a 
 European. 
 
 'In Ku-mait or Ah-mar the mane and 
 tail are black ; in Ash-kar, red or 
 sorrel. Chestnut of a dark copper 
 colour, called by Indian horsemen after 
 the fruit of the mahua tree {Bassia 
 latifolia), is not very common in Ara- 
 bian blood-horses. 
 
 Rare in Al Kham-sa. 
 
 Ad-ham and As-wad are synonymous ; 
 but horsemen say ad- ham ; just as we 
 do not speak of a red horse, but of a 
 "bay" or a "chestnut." The old poets 
 call a dark - coloured, or pitch - black, 
 horse jatcn ; and this colour was evi- 
 dently much esteemed. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 THE TYPICAL ARABIAN. 
 
 263 
 
 PROPER TO ARABIAN HORSES. 
 
 ^.— THE WHITE, GREY, AND ROAN COLOURS. 
 
 Arabic Names. 
 
 Horse. 
 
 As-far 
 
 As-hab 
 
 Ash-hab 
 
 Am-lah 
 
 Ash-a'l 
 
 Ni-li 
 
 Az-rak 
 
 Mare. 
 
 Saf-ra 
 
 Sah-ba 
 
 Shah-ba 
 
 Mal-ha 
 
 Sha'-la 
 
 Rum-ma-ni 
 
 Ab-rash 
 
 Zar-ka 
 
 r Rum-ma- 
 i ni-ya 
 
 Bar-sha 
 
 Explanations. 
 
 '(i) White, with a\ 
 saffron or sorrel | 
 infusion, which I 
 is chiefly appar- > 
 ent in the mane 
 and tail 
 
 ,(2) Milk-white 
 
 y 
 
 17^ S2ipra. 
 
 Ut supra; except that ' 
 the infusion into the 
 white is blackish, 
 not yellowish. 
 
 ' Of the colour of viilh 
 = (i)milk;(2)crude 
 salt — i.e., practical- 
 ly, " silver-grey " 
 
 Much as above 
 
 r The colour of nil, in- "( 
 i digo. Blue-grey J 
 
 (K lighter variety of ' 
 the above. A blue 
 or blue-grey colour, 
 which is common in 
 Nature — e.g., in the 
 eye 
 
 From rum -mail, the 
 
 pomegranate. 
 " Nutmeg-grey" 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 Marked with flecks 
 differing from the 
 main colour. 
 
 " Flea-bitten grey " 
 
 The Bedouin include all whites and light greys as as-far. The 
 " iTTTTO'i %\(u/309," or " pale horse," of the Apocalypse, must have 
 been of this colour. In Arabic and Persian respectively, the 
 exact equivalents o{ 'yXmpo'; are ak/i-d/iar and sadsa — meaning, 
 is^, and generally, the green of new verdure ; 2d, and spe- 
 cially, the grey colour in horses. 
 
 Applied to all the vaguer shades of grey. 
 
 Strictly (in El I'rak), when there is much white on the face and tail. 
 
 Opener, and with less of black, than our " iron-grey," which is 
 more of a ka-dish than a Ku-hai-Ian colour. [Nzl, indigo, is a 
 loan word in Arabic, and has nothing to do with the name of 
 the great river of Africa.] 
 
 'Much prized. Even further from "iron-grey" than is the m-/i. 
 Dappling is not very common in Ku-hai-lans. Of greys, 
 perhaps the az-rak most inclines to a light fleecy grey. 
 
 The " Mu-war-rad," or " rose " colour of Najd. Within its range, 
 this, like all the greys, admits of different proportions of 
 white, red, and black. The desert contains no vulgar, patchy, 
 or mealy roans ; and no flesh-coloured muzzles and pink 
 orifices. The true " nutmeg roan " or " nutmeg grey " runs the 
 bay colour close for the prize of excellence in the Arabian 
 breed. However white in the course of years a rum-ma-ni 
 
 V turns, his " strawberry " spots remain. 
 
 Bay or black pencils which come out of a white, or a grey, coat. 
 The true " flea-bitten " generally grows more and more so with 
 age. Some say that there never is a sorry horse of this mark- 
 ing. It may be so ; but though the colour undoubtedly runs 
 in Ku-hai-lans, yet it is also common in ka-dishes. The 
 Persians and Indians call it ma-ga-si — from magas, a fly. 
 
264 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK. IV. 
 
 minor degree, of different individuals. Why, then, may not a horse's colour help 
 us to draw conclusions as to his temper in the sense of " manners," — that is, 
 whether he is more inclined to knock one's brains out, or cheerfully to do what 
 is required of him ? As to this, the Arabs are ready with the theory that the 
 testimony of colour is important. One of their sayings is. The kings of horse-kind 
 are those which are of a dark colotir} If this mean that whatever the colour may 
 be, the intenser or more pronounced it is, the better the horse will be, then it is 
 worth considering. Another Eastern saying is, that one should be slow to buy a 
 chestnut horse, and still slower to sell one of that colour which has turned out well ; 
 but the same maxim applies to the buying and selling of horses of all colours. On 
 this, as on so many other subjects, the lore of the Arabs, at any rate in towns and 
 villages, has a good deal of superstition engrained in it. An example of this is, 
 their absurd notions about "lucky and unlucky" markings. Many millions of 
 Eastern people still think that life, or wealth, or conjugal honour may be connected 
 with, for instance, in a " white-stockinged " ^ horse, the number of limbs thus 
 marked, and the height to which the colour rises ! ^ Another branch of the same 
 oriental goose-lore draws its presages from whorls in the hair. Curly places, or 
 " feathers," of certain shapes and in certain situations, are taken for omens that he 
 who owns or mounts the horse will rue it ; and similar arrangements of the hair on 
 other spots, for assurances of prosperity. Ridiculous as all this is, it occasionally 
 proves useful. When the owner of a long purse wishes to refuse a horse which 
 an obliging friend would foist on him, convenient objections are to be found in 
 these markings. And, moreover, "feathers" on a horse's neck or body no more 
 indicate higrh breeding than a twist in the beard does in man. Horses in whose 
 coats the hair thus disports Itself are commoner among the Sham-mar than among 
 the Ae-ni-za. And thus may superstition, perhaps but half believed in, supply 
 the place of knowledge in saving men from bad bargains. Europe also keeps its 
 little idols on the point of colour. " A good horse is never of a bad colour," is one 
 of those truisms which mean little. When a horse is before us of which we know 
 not whether he is good or bad, the question is whether any clue to this may be 
 found in his colour ? We often hear all the chestnuts in the world included in one 
 condemnation, as hot-tempered, or " washy," or something else ; and it is not to be 
 denied that there are grounds for this opinion. There have been a great many 
 
 1 " Mu-lu-ku V kliail diih-mu-]id." Dithm, pi. of 
 ad-ham — q. v. in Part A. of Table of the Colours pro- 
 per to Arabian Horses. 
 
 ^ Stockings enter less into Arab life than riding 
 through rivers does. Accordingly, a horse with "all 
 four white " to above the knees and hocks is, in Arabic, 
 mu - khaw - wadh, because his appearance suggests 
 
 that he has ]\xs\. passed through a ford. A horse which 
 has one, two, or three white pasterns, is called mu-haj- 
 jal — lit., ankleted, or shackled. 
 
 ^ The importance which the old Arabs attached to 
 a dash of white on the mare's face was noticed at 
 p. 61, a7ite. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 THE TYPICAL ARABIAN. 
 
 265 
 
 chestnuts which, owing to their essential bad quahties, have been worse than 
 useless. But, on the other hand, stud statistics attest the pre-eminence of the 
 chestnut colour. Was not this the uniform of Eclipse and Plenipotentiary, 
 Stockwell, and his blaze-faced son, Blair Athol ? Some of the best Arabs that ever 
 trod the turf in India have been of this colour. Long ago, when it was permitted 
 us to drive a coach, we always drove chestnuts, because of the beautiful manner in 
 which the Eastern sun lights up their jackets. Many chestnut horses, both Arabians 
 and Australians, have thus received their schooling from us. Some of them, when 
 first taken up, brought little credit on their colour — one minute gaily trying to pull 
 the whole coach, and the next minute jibbing without either sense or reason. But 
 many others were not to be surpassed in natural sweetness of temper. The devil 
 does not dress all his servants in jackets of the same colour. Our advice to the 
 reader is, by all means to consider colour, but to understand that it is only one of 
 many other points which require to be weighed in the scales of knowledge and 
 experience before a sound opinion can be formed. Above all things, it is necessary 
 not to hamper ourselves with " notions," if we would buy the best horses.^ 
 
 Another set of facts relating to colour are those which seem to invest it with 
 significance as an indication of breed, or breeding. Before Darwin, colour passed 
 for a mere piece of natural ornamentation, designed to give pleasure to mankind. 
 A pastoral passage in Genesis was much quoted in this connection.^ Numerous 
 facts of common observation, notably those turning on the relations between locality 
 and colouration, seemed at first sight to involve the view that colour is a trivial 
 character which is prone to vary. In certain parts of Najd, the tawny hue gives 
 place to the black one in camels. In our island the mountain-hare becomes white 
 in September, to resume its russet coat in May. Alterations of bodily state or 
 structure in the individual are frequently followed by changes in the colour of the 
 hair. A horse now in our possession, which when cut in 1882, as a five-year-old, 
 was a sound bay, among other deviations from the male type has turned more of a 
 weak chestnut. The hair which grows after a wound is white. Darwin's specula- 
 tions on the origin and uses of colour in animals may be read in other books. We 
 have now only to say that the old naturalists Avho held colour to be an unim- 
 
 ^ The Government of India, in its operations for the 
 improvement of native breeds, now taboos grey stal- 
 lions. Not knowing the grounds or objects of the de- 
 sired exclusion of horses of this colour from regiments 
 and batteries, we can but assume this restriction to 
 be well founded. But it every year puts on one side, 
 in a not too well supplied market, horses which other- 
 wise would be most eligible. In the unfixed state of 
 colour in the Arabian breed, many a grey Arab has on 
 both sides bay or chestnut parents. 
 
 2 " And Jacob took him rods of fresh poplar, and of 
 the almond and of the plane tree ; and peeled white 
 strakes in them, and made the white appear which was 
 in the rods. And he set the rods which he had peeled 
 over against the flocks in the gutters in the water- 
 ing-troughs where the flocks came to drink ; and they 
 conceived when they came to drink. And the flocks 
 conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought 
 forth ringstraked, speckled, and spotted." — Chap. -xxx. 
 37-39 (revis. vers.) 
 
 2 L 
 
266 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 portant character had many facts not very consistent with that opinion before 
 them. As a rule, colour is constant in each species of wild animal ; and variega- 
 tion waits on domestication. A white elephant is as rare as a white Hindu. ^ 
 The slight differences of colour in a sounder of wild hog, or herd of deer, or shoal 
 of perch, chiefly follow sex or period of life. The breeder of domestic animals 
 modifies colour, as just stated, in the same way that he does most other characters ; 
 but he cannot get rid of the old grit. In the Leicester breed of sheep, after a 
 century of cultivation, grey-faced, black-spotted, or wholly black lambs still occur. 
 In horses certain markings seem indelible — for example, the dark patch on one 
 hind-quarter which is so common in the descendants of Eclipse, though we have 
 also seen it in mongrel I'rakts ; and the spinal stripe which Darwin used to support 
 the view of the horse being a co-descendant with the ass, the quagga, and the zebra, 
 of some striped and extinct progenitor.^ But further, if the immediate effect of 
 domestication on colour be to variegate it, most of our pure and valued artificial 
 breeds are characterised by definite colours which constitute one of their distinctive 
 marks. In the "Pepper and Mustard" terriers, for instance, it is seldom that pied 
 puppies, or puppies which are not either slaty-blue or sand colour, appear. One 
 reason of this is, that when irregularly marked specimens occur, they are promptly 
 drowned ; but perhaps the two colours in question are the more easily fixed be- 
 cause natural to the dog. On the other hand, who can deny that the modern 
 English greyhound is very highly bred ? and yet, see how diverse his colours 
 are. Antiquity abounds in references to breeds of horses all of one colour, 
 especially white — the colour with respect to which the erroneous view is preva- 
 lent that it is not natural or original, but the result of old age. Marco Polo, 
 in describing "the city of Chandu," mentions that the sovereign of the Tatars, 
 " Cublay by name," kept "an immense stud of white horses and mares, in fact, 
 more than ten thousand of them, and all pure white without a speck," the milk 
 of which was drunk by the Kaan and his family, and by none else, except one 
 great tribe, on whom the privilege had been conferred by his grandsire Jenghis 
 Kaan.^ Sir W. Scott, in chapter xl. of The Antiqitary, following, as may be 
 
 ^ The colour of the Hindu's hair is even more fixed 
 than that of his skin. This fact receives illustration 
 in the offspring, in India, of European fathers and 
 dusky mothers. Even when both parents are Eura- 
 sians, and very dark, several of their children may be 
 white-skinned. But fair hair is never seen in the 
 most European-looking Eurasian. If even the great- 
 grandmother have been Indian, and her husband, 
 with all the intervening steps of descent, pure Euro- 
 pean, the hair will be black. In the races which in- 
 habit El I'rak, the black colour of the hair seems less 
 firmly fixed than in Indians. 
 
 ^ Darwin should have seen the comparatively un- 
 crossed breeds of horses, mostly dun or slate-coloured, 
 and remarkable for their hardy constitutions, power 
 of endurance, and indomitable tempers, which still 
 exist in several remote provinces of India, especially 
 Kathiawar. Not only the spinal stripe, but with it 
 the asinine bars on the forearm and shoulder, are 
 scarcely more conspicuous in the zebra than in these 
 equines, among whose characteristics are long ears, 
 having the points much turned in^vard. 
 
 ^ Marco Polo, Sir H. Yule's edit. (1875), vol. i. p. 
 291. 
 
CHAP. II. THE TYPICAL ARABIAN. 267 
 
 assumed, some sound tradition, makes an aged woman croon the following fragment, 
 having reference to the Earl of Mar's cavalry of the time of the battle of Harlaw 
 
 (141 1):— 
 
 " They saddled a hundred milk-white steeds, 
 They hae bridled a hundred black, 
 With a chafron of steel on each horse's head, 
 And a good knight upon his back." 
 
 And, to name no more, Lord Beaconsfield, in Alroy, introduces another race of 
 white horses — the white Anatolian, to which, and not to the Arabian, he assigns 
 pre-eminence in equine history. So far, all is in the ordinary course. The pro- 
 duction by man, through " methodical selection," of breeds of horses of one colour, 
 is as intelligible as the distribution by Nature of troops of wild horses, every indi- 
 vidual of which resembles the surface of the ground. But another fact here presents 
 itself which seems still to await explanation. Except in so far as statistics show 
 that there have been more winners of one colour than of another colour, Enelish 
 breeders for the turf may safely be acquitted of all preference, or fancy, respecting 
 colour. And yet, equally in our islands and at the antipodes, the long course of 
 scientific breeding of which our racing stock is the product has practically resulted 
 in its becoming a family of bays and chestnuts — two colours essentially one. In 
 olden times, when England was full of fresh Eastern blood, greys were as often 
 seen at the starting-post as they were down to a much later period in New South 
 Wales and Victoria. In a book published in 1866,^ it is "estimated" that the Derby 
 had been won during the previous thirty years by 7 chestnuts, 7 browns, and 
 16 bays; the St Leger by 5 chestnuts, 8 browns, and 17 bays; and the Oaks in 
 like proportion. Of course, there are exceptions. The Greyfriars of our day may 
 have been as good a horse, though he was not so successful, as the Grey Momus of 
 that of our grandfathers. But cases like this — in all probability reversions — are 
 merely those that prove the rule ; and apparently the conclusion confronts us, that 
 the tendency of the highest breeding, in latitudes far separated, is to wipe out in 
 horses all colours save bay and chestnut. 
 
 So far we have confined ourselves to the outer aspect of the typical Arabian. 
 In point of personal character, the subject of our description merely carries us, as it 
 were, into the inner circle of Al Kham-sa. With the tide now running so strongly 
 in Europe towards edzication, it is interesting to notice how firmly the Arabs still 
 believe in breeding. Generosus nascihir non fit is a principle to which they do 
 not attach any limitation. When they perceive a colt sulking under the spur, 
 and displaying other mulish symptoms, what instantly strikes them is, not that he 
 
 ^ Tlie Turf and the Race Horse, by R. H. Copperthwaite, 2d edition (Day & Son), p. 144. 
 
268 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. book iv. 
 
 requires tuition, but that lie is, as we siiould say, " bad from the egg." It is 
 necessary, however, to protest against the idea that the Najdi horse is wanting in 
 resolution. The instinct of noli me tangere is well developed in him. It is not for 
 nothing that his head, instead of being small and meaningless like a sheep's, is broad 
 and full in the frontal part. His admirable self-command habitually subdues the 
 fire of his highly nervous temperament ; but if any one would fight him, he will fight. 
 A yahoo of a rider may exhaust his patience. Even the noble mare, which the Arabs 
 compare to the high-born lady on whom it is meet that all maidens should attend, 
 frequently shows her aversion when those whom she does not know approach her. 
 The stallion picketed beside the tent is as good as a sentinel. The first sound of 
 an intruder brings him to attention. Generally he will stamp with one fore-foot, 
 and challenge ; not braying like a ka - dish, but sounding one or two short and 
 sharp notes, to intimate that he will make no terms. On the open plain, his strong 
 character is even more exhibited. He seems to increase in size when moved from 
 his standing-place. After a gallop, every joint and sinew and useful part stand 
 out, as if made by work and for work. There is very little of the mere "pet" 
 about him. When his glance is not fixed on some object near him, in which 
 he imagines that there is danger, he is always scanning the horizon. His gentle 
 salutations of passing mares are widely different sounds from the bagpipe - like 
 squeals of the I'raki stallion. At the sight of a crowd he neighs out musically, 
 like one who is delighted to meet others of his species. Most of all, a whoop excites 
 him. In a moment his thoughts appear to revert to Al ghaz-u ; and if a towns- 
 man be on his back, and he be fresh, he will require a great deal of steadying. It 
 is said that the Bedouin wake up their horses' ears for life by shouting into them, 
 at the top of their voices, as soon as possible after the foal is dropped. 
 
269 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ARABIAN IN SHA-Ml-YA AND AL JA-ZI-RA. 
 
 A SALIENT fact much insisted on in what precedes has here to be carried 
 forward. That is, that the description of the a-sil Arabian which has been 
 attempted is equally applicable in Najd and outside of it. At least it is essentially 
 so, seeing that he is the horse of nomads ; though the modifying influences of food, 
 work, soil, air, and water have also to be remembered. In so far as data are avail- 
 able, the view may reasonably be adopted that the Ku-hai-lan tends on the 
 Euphrates, through the power of barley, to excel in physique his brother in Nu- 
 fudh-land. It is recorded of the Darley, that as a four-year-old he was "about 15 
 hands high." The authority for this is his owner's letter which was quoted at p. 
 165 ante. There is no means of ascertaining whether the great-great-grandfather 
 of Eclipse, as pedigree tables represent him, first beheld the world in which he 
 was to obtain such distinction from some valley thick with mi-si and the feathery 
 ithl in the heart of the peninsula ; or in the deserts west of the Euphrates, where 
 Mr Darley bought him. But we know of many other scions of Al Kham-sa more 
 or less resembling him, that never were out of Sha-mt-ya or Al Ja-zi-ra, from the 
 date of foaling to that of export. Such were most, if not all, of the invincibles 
 which made the Agha Khan cap and jacket the terror of Western India race- 
 courses, from about 1850 to 1880. One of these furnishes our frontispiece. All the 
 time that the " Agha Khan " who first took refuge in India " kept his court in grand 
 and noble style" in Bombay and Poona, as did his ancestor, "The Old One "of 
 Marco Polo's Travels, in the fortress of Alamut in Persia, his influence at Kar- 
 bala enabled him annually to procure, through a private channel, selections from 
 the best blood-colts of the Aeniza. His stable management was a curious mixture 
 of the Persian and the Newmarket systems ; but the horses were so superior 
 that an uncommon power of winning races was accounted among the miraculous 
 sifts of the "Old Man of the Mountain." ^ 
 
 1 V. art. AlamDt, in Ind. I. 
 
270 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. book iv. 
 
 Both Mr Blunt and Major Upton chose their stud Arabians from the stocks 
 which drink of the Euphrates. Several of tlie animals selected by the latter were 
 sent to New South Wales. According to an advertisement sheet now before us, 
 dated i8S8, from Rochester, New York, one of them became the prima donna 
 of a breeding establishment in the New World. We all know that Mr Blunt's 
 favourites, notwithstanding the collapse of Arab racing at Newmarket, continue to 
 multiply in Sussex. 
 
 Many years before the Crabbet Park stud was formed, a merchant of Bombay 
 took to England a genuine Arab horse named Venus. This may seem a strange 
 name for a horse ; but the explanation is that his importer, a not too reverent A jami, 
 or Persian, called him after the Prophet Yu-nus, out of which " Venus " was evolved 
 by the Secretary of the Turf Club. We never saw this modern "Bay Arabian" 
 during his stud career in our island, and do not know what chances were allowed 
 him ; but he was a true-made one. He belonged to the horse, not the Galloway, 
 series ; and the only fault which the most critical judges could find in him — over- 
 slackness at the couples — did not prevent him from carrying ten stone to victory, 
 on at least one occasion, in a two-mile contest. We have lately had the good 
 fortune to find evidence that Venus and the Darley, with an interval of about a 
 century and a half between them, passed in the same deserts, and out of the hands 
 of the same nation, from nomad to ha-dha-d ownership. Since beginning this 
 chapter, we have lost the chance of purchasing a four-year-old colt of the same 
 strain as Venus in the followino- of a Shekh of the Sba'. While we were offerinsf 
 money, a messenger from the Mun-ta-fik bought him with thirty camels.^ In the 
 same desert _;^55 and three riding-camels were offered for another colt, to the dire 
 offence of his breeder. These experiences show what considerable prices are often 
 demanded by the Bedouin of Sha-mi-ya. In every country a good horse, or one 
 which from his breeding is likely to prove such, excites competition. 
 
 We have only space to notice here two of the many approved Arabians which 
 Euphrates land has more recently yielded. 
 
 About twenty years ago, Esau bin Curtas, of Bussorah, bought a large bay colt 
 from the Bedouin of Sha-mt-ya. He first offered him to the Government of India; 
 but his fore-legs were pronounced unsatisfactory. Ultimately the colt was sold, 
 for Rs. 10,000, to one of our countrymen, in whose hands he became the conquer- 
 ing Revenge.^ 
 
 '^ In Arabia the purchasing power of camels so 
 varies in different years, at different seasons, and in 
 different locahties, that it is impossible to express a 
 given number of them in £ s. d. He who works with 
 a camel currency quickly reahses the first principle 
 of commerce, that what is called money bears a very 
 
 indeterminate value. 
 
 ^ Not to be confounded with his namesake of later 
 date. Young Revenge, of whom we have failed to dis- 
 cover whether he came from Najd, Sha-mi-ya, or Al 
 Ja-zi-ra. 
 
CHAP. m. THE ARABIAN IN SHA-MI-YA AND AL JA-Zl-RA. 
 
 271 
 
 Our second instance will also be taken from India, where the running of the 
 bay Arab horse Euphrates is still remembered. Euphrates was one of the most 
 commanding Arabs that have ever appeared, and he was taller even than the Darley. 
 His exporter, A'lt bin Khu-dhai-ri, whose home is in Baghdad, bought him in 
 the neighbourhood of Aleppo, from the Aeniza. Some of our readers may have 
 seen Euphrates cut down his fields like a second Eclipse. There is a laudable 
 tendency in Englishmen to claim for old England everything that is very superior. 
 As often as a "Triton of the minnows" like Revenge and Euphrates comes out 
 in India, many who should know better assert that he is partly English. The 
 point to observe is, that nothing would induce the breeders of the pure Arabian to 
 use an English stallion, even if the opportunity of doing so existed. A brother 
 of the Shekh of the Ma-sa-ri-ba division of the Sba' Aeniza married an English- 
 woman, with whom he is said to live in much happiness, at certain seasons of 
 the year in a Damascus chateau, and at others in tents in the desert. Lady A. 
 Blunt states that the Ma-sa-ri-ba take advantage of this connection for the im- 
 portation of guns, revolvers, and ammunition ; ^ and some may think it probable 
 that English stallions also reach them through the same channel. Perhaps this 
 might be so if anybody were to convince them that mixed blood would prove as 
 superior to pure blood in Al ghaz-u as carbines do to lances ; but experience has 
 fortified them against such an idea. Many of the finest Ku-hai-lans, especially those 
 of the bay colour, more or less resemble Newmarket three-year-olds ; but the 
 relationship between the two varieties explains this, taken in connection with the 
 fact that both alike are bred for galloping. In the same way, the type of remote 
 oriental ancestors is occasionally reproduced in our blood-horses — for example, in 
 Touchstone, and his very Arab-like son Motley. 
 
 We now come to the important feature of Sha-mi-ya and Al Ja-zi-ra — that is to 
 say, the endless series of adulterated breeds of horses, more or less founded on Arab 
 blood, which they contain. There should be no blind buying of horses anywhere, 
 and least of all towards the Tigris and Euphrates. History narrates how the coun- 
 try between El I'rak and Egypt has from time immemorial formed one of the world's 
 caravan routes and battle-fields. When it received the Aeniza and the Shammar, it 
 was already tenanted not only by many nations of Arabs, such as the Ba-nu Sakhr 
 and Ma-wa-li, now called collectively Ahlu 'sk Shi-mdl, or Northerners^^ but also by 
 multitudes of other kindreds. In Burckhardt's time, hordes of Turku-mans were 
 prominent elements in its population.^ Nearer our day, a British remount officer 
 explored the Aeniza encampments round Damascus, and wrote in ' Blackwood's 
 
 ^ V. op. cit. in Catalog. No. 12, vol. i. p. 10. 
 
 - To distinguish them from the Aeniza, who are 
 
 spoken of as A'rabu V Kib-li, or Southerners. 
 
 ^ Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 15, vol. i. p. 12, et passim. 
 
2/2 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Magazine ' a delightfully matter-of-fact account of his adventures. His reference 
 to the Turku-mans is as follows : — - 
 
 " Besides the Arabs, there was another race whose tents might be found in our neighbour- 
 hood ; the wandering Turcomans, a nomadic people very similar, both in manner of life and in 
 dress, to the sedentary Arabs. Their history, as it was related to me, is this : They belong to 
 the great Turcoman race from which the Osmanlis sprang, and which still exists towards the 
 north of Persia. Their forefathers came into Syria to help to resist the Crusaders, and have 
 remained there ever since ; and the language which they to this day speak is not, as with the 
 other people of Syria, Arabic, but Turkish. 
 
 " They possess camels, goats, cattle, and horses. The latter are very poor. They are not, 
 I think, superior in height to the Arab, and in every other point are so inferior that, seen by his 
 side, they seem fit for little else than pack-horses. They are heavy and clumsy, with coarse 
 heads, staring coats, very drooping hind-quarters, legs long in the shank, and coarse, draggling, 
 ill-carried tails. In temper they are very shy; and although almost all geldings, are commonly 
 obstinate and vicious when mounted. The mares, by reason of finer coats and greater age (for 
 both Arabs and Turcomans sell their horses very young), are better looking, but are still coarse 
 and Flemish." 1 
 
 The Bedouin Arabs of Najd, when they overflowed into Sha-mt-ya and Al 
 Ja-zt-ra, neither expelled nor subjugated the peoples whom they found there. The 
 spaces were ample, and the new-comers took only what they wanted. Their boast 
 is that they have preserved from Shi-ma-li admixture ^ the strains of horses which 
 they brought with them ; but this account exceeds the bounds of credibility. In 
 these northern pastures, the best Najdi blood is that which is the most frequently 
 revivified by fresh supplies from Najd. 
 
 The granges and hamlets on the Euphrates produce innumerable horses which 
 it would be an abuse of language to call Arabians. 
 
 Where the Bi-likh fertilises north-western Al Ja-zi-ra, the Ba-ra-zi-ya, as we 
 have already seen,^ drive the plough and raise cattle. These are not Al ghaz-u 
 folk, and their mares are mostly Shi-ma-li. They are, however, skilful horse- 
 breeders, and they have access to the stallions of the Bedouin. They specially 
 aim at breeding large horses. A considerable number of charger-like upstanding 
 colts of all shades of blood are annually collected from them by the Mosul and 
 Ur-fa dealers. When a horse of the coarse or "carty" stamp appears in India, and 
 strides away by sheer force of bone and muscle from cleaner bred ones, he may be 
 the product of these pastures. Horses of this class occasionally make a coup, but 
 they do not train on. There is no instance of one of them winning races in his 
 
 1 op. cit. in Catalog. No. 20, p. 273. 
 
 ^ Shi-ma-lJ literally means northern, or north-west- 
 ern. Here it denotes the horse stock which existed 
 on the Euphrates before the coming of the Aeniza and 
 
 the Shammar. The term ba-ri-da-tu 'I jauf, lit. cold- 
 hearted, is given by the Bedouin to the produce of 
 Shi-ma-li mares by hu-dud, i.e. pure-bred, stallions. 
 2 V. ante, p. 75. 
 
CHAP. III. THE ARABIAN IN SHA-MI-YA AND AL JA-Zt-RA. 273- 
 
 teens, like little Greyleg. The old story of " English Arabs " is reproduced in connec- 
 tion with them, but it is wide of the mark. It may be the case that the Ba-ra-zi-ya, 
 unlike the Aeniza, would send their mares to any large horse of good character which 
 might come their way ; but they could neither procure an English sire nor take care 
 of him if they had him. One summer we kept an Australian thoroughbred beside 
 us in Baghdad.^ He was a patient gelding, which had experienced the climate of 
 India, and he had a cool stable, with ample attendance. But one afternoon in 
 August a wasp attacked him. Contrary to orders, the native grooms had fastened 
 him with head and heel ropes, to keep him from rubbing himself The attachment 
 of the head-rope was to a solid square of wood firmly planted in the stable floor, 
 and that of the heel-rojaes to an iron peg ; but the affrighted animal kicked and 
 plunged till both pieces started. He then set off through the town, with his 
 plucked-up anchors dangling both before him and behind him, and banging him. 
 When he was brought back, the blood was streaming from him, and it was several 
 weeks before he recovered. Even in India, European horses are difficult charges. 
 One of the best that ever was shipped from Cape Colony, Sir Benjamin, was so 
 excited by the ordeal of being taken through the surf at Madras in a native boat, 
 that the first thincr which he did on landing was to " knock over a black fellow." ^ 
 A high veterinary authority declared that he was mad, and recommended, for the 
 sake of the public safety, that he should be destroyed. We once saw two superb 
 English hunters arrive in the capital of a Hindu State in Rajputana. A young 
 Rajput was ordered to mount one of them ; and he had no sooner done so 
 than the noble quadruped, with a slight lift of his hind-quarters, sent the youngster 
 rolling down the road like a cricket-ball. 
 
 When a medical man writes us a prescription consisting of half-a-dozen 
 ingredients, nobody can venture to say which of them is the one that shall cure 
 us. And in the same way the Shi-ma-li horse stock of Sha-mi-ya and Al 
 Ja-zi-ra is so curiously compounded, that it is impossible to give an exact account 
 of it. One of its elements is the deteriorated Turku-ma-ni mass, which is de- 
 scribed in the above extract from ' Blackwood.' There is evidence to show 
 that blood relationship exists between the Turku-ma-ni horse which is bred to 
 the east of the Caspian and the Ku-hai-lan of the Arabs. One of the good 
 deeds of A'b-bas I. of Persia, whose dominions at his death (1628) stretched from 
 the Tigris to the Indus, was to collect and distribute a large number of Arabian 
 mares and stallions. The new breed thus founded was well cared for by the 
 northern nomadic Kurds, and it flourished greatly in certain localities which 
 now belong to Russia. We have heard it stated by those who know " Turk- 
 
 1 V. ante, pp. 195 et iii,i. \ - Op. at. in Catalog. No. 26 (Aug. 1S57), p. iiS. 
 
 2 M 
 
274 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 menia," that the best variety of the Turku-ma-ni horse, that known in Central 
 Asia as the Argamak, essentially is a modified Arabian. Our first introduc- 
 tion to the Argamak occurred in India. At Hyderabad, in the Deccan, a 
 bay horse was offered to Sir Salar Jung at an enormous price by a Hirl.ti 
 dealer, who said that he had brought him from the steppe - land north of 
 Khurasan and Afghanistan. It so happened that a couple of years previously 
 we had received from Sydney a thoroughbred Waler, the grandsire of which 
 was an Arab, and finding him unsound, had sold him by auction. Sir Salar 
 Jung had often seen him, and when the Turku-ma-ni horse was taken to him 
 he sent him to us, with a letter asking if he was not our late property. And 
 really the two were so similar that it was difficult to distinguish them, except 
 from the Waler beinof a oreldinsf and the other a horse. Afterwards, in Afghan- 
 istan, we saw many Argamaks of the same Anglo-Arabian stamp, — not at Cabul, 
 whence the true sabreurs had fled, but at Jalal-a-bad, in the possession of Sher 
 A'li's governor.^ Pilgrims and other travellers from kingdoms as distant as Bukhara 
 frequently pace over the routes of Sha-mi-ya and Al Ja-zi-ra on Turku-ma-ni 
 horses. The best specimens which have come our way have been long, and if 
 anything rather narrow, animals, with straight back and croup ; long, fine, and 
 well-raised neck; head "dry," as the Russians say — that is, bony and fleshless — 
 and the eyes as lively as a game-cock's. Bay, grey, and dark brown are the 
 established colours. As a rule, these horses are of greater height and scope 
 than Arabs. Their fore-legs are of the " brass-wire " kind, and the fore pasterns 
 incline to be too long and straight. 
 
 We have thus dwelt on the subject of Turku-ma-ni horses, partly because 
 the breed is an interesting one, and partly in connection with the well-attested 
 and evident fact, above alluded to, of this blood, in a debased form, being spread 
 over Sha-mi-ya and Al Ja-zi-ra. In a batch of horses which lately reached us 
 from the Aleppo quarter, a dark bay colt with black points greatly took the eye. 
 Although only two off, he stood 14 hands 3 inches, and was long, low, and level. 
 His head was not good. It appears in the illustration on p. 140, where it is used 
 
 1 A son of the historical Amir Dost Muhammad 
 Khan of Cabul, resided till he died at Baghdad. He 
 has often told us that, according- to his experience, 
 the Argamak is even a better traveller and cam- 
 paigner than the Arabian. His view was that as no 
 sane person will sell a proved good horse unless he 
 has turned useless, the only way to obtain a sound 
 and genuine Argamak is to buy him as a yearling 
 from the nomads. Russian posts are now estab- 
 lished in the country of the Akhal Tekkes — i.e., in 
 
 " Turkmenia," as distinct froiB Turkistan. Probably 
 either Yeok Tepe or Ask-abad would be the best 
 centre to work from if one desired to buy Argamaks. 
 But it would be necessary to go in person, as Count 
 de IVIailling did about fifteen years ago. An agent 
 would bring back animals which he had bought from 
 peasants ; or perhaps half-wild Kirghiz Galloways, 
 the hardy creatures with the aid of which Kokand, 
 Bokhara, and Khiva have lately been " civilised " by 
 Russia. 
 
CHAP. III. THE ARABIAN IN SHA-MI-YA AND AL JA-Zl-RA. 
 
 27s 
 
 as a block on which to exhibit the Bedouin bridle. His length from hip to hock 
 was extraordinary, but the quarters were as close and narrow as if they had been 
 pressed together. When roused, he was a dashing galloper, but he was a slug at 
 all other paces. The man who exercised him called him Al kd-ruk, or The cradle} 
 from his ponderous rocking motion at the walk. His manners raised a strong 
 suspicion that he was not a true Arabian. The desert colt carries his feeding-bag 
 with him, and knows that if he would reach his halting-place he must march 
 straight ahead. "Sticking up" under the saddle and all the other signs of 
 stubbornness indicate town breeding. This one, if Balaam's ass had been his 
 grandfather, could scarcely have had a more inveterate habit of stopping when 
 the humour seized him, standing like a statue, and resisting every intimation to 
 proceed. The usual excuses were made for these symptoms of worthlessness. 
 It was thought that time and work would perhaps develop Bedouin manners. 
 Eclipse, when he was a colt, was so full of vagaries that they thought of cas- 
 trating him ; and it was only through his being hacked about all day by an Epsom 
 rough-rider, who often kept him out all night, that his strong character was 
 mastered. Bumble's theory that ," meat will raise an artificial soul and spirit," 
 was perhaps in this case applicable, for truly a boy's, or a colt's, worst enemies 
 are idleness and over-feeding. At all events, it was decided to keep the colt, 
 in the hope that he would improve. In Baghdad it is difficult to do justice 
 to young horses. In winter the desert is soaked with rain, and in summer its 
 surface resembles brick-work. As has elsewhere been noticed, there is also con- 
 stant trouble about shoeing. A civilised riding-boy can scarcely be made from 
 the existing materials ; and practised lads are unwilling to leave India for a 
 country in which there are no race-meetings. The sight of a rising colt being 
 hauled about by a Turk or Arab who holds on by the bridle, and whose seat 
 is wherever he can find it, is as painful to a horseman as that of an Errard's harp 
 in the hands of a kitchen-maid would be to a musician. It so befell, however, 
 that the best thing which can happen to any horse happened to this one ; that is, 
 in his third and fourth years he saw less of his stable than of desert marching. The 
 practice of making horses which are intended for contests of speed cover lono- dis- 
 tances of ground every day, like mere baggage animals, is not perhaps the best 
 promotive of racing form ; but it is an excellent discipline and preparation. In this 
 instance it worked wonders. The colt grew as muscular as a prize-fighter; and 
 after a time it seemed that he had learned the lesson of obedience. But event- 
 
 1 In the classical Arabic, the place in which the babe 
 is first laid is called inahd — lit. a flat surface. The 
 swinging cj-adle is a town invention, and the word 
 
 for it, ka-ruk, is apparently of the same coinage as 
 creak, croak, crack, &c. 
 
276 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. book iv. 
 
 ually he yielded another illustration of the words of Sa'-di, that no one can make 
 a good sword out of bad metal ; and that careful tipdringing, in the case of the 
 worthless, is like a walnut on a dome ; or, as our proverb runs, water on a ducks 
 back. He was trained in India as a five-year-old, under every advantage ; but 
 the more he was galloped, the more he resembled a ka-dish. It was afterwards 
 ascertained that he came from a village near Aleppo, and that his dam was not an 
 Arabian, but a Turku-ma-nt mongrel. Some say that according to the contour of 
 the head in foalhood will be the mature horse's outward form ; and we are inclined 
 to think that every youngling, whatever its early promise may be, will the more 
 confess its orio-in the older it gfrows. 
 
277 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ARABIAN IN EL I'RAK AND EAST THE TIGRIS. 
 
 THE general features of I'rak A'ra-bi have been elsewhere shown.^ Every 
 reader knows the importance of this region to investigators, owing to the 
 antiquity of its annals,- especially those tablets of burnt clay which are excavated 
 and deciphered by Assyriologists. The first Semitic settlers among its primitive 
 population are believed to have come as traders. The career of these people, 
 under their historic name of Assyrians, is compared by Professor Sayce with the 
 development of the British power in India.^ The disappearance in due time 
 (b.c. 539) of Nebuchadnezzar's empire before an invasion of Aryans led by Cyrus, 
 is among the outstanding facts of history. A thousand years afterwards. El I'rak 
 received another irruption of Semites. This time they were Arabs, and the spirit 
 which moved them was national and religious. Islam had set out to conquer, 
 and these were its soldiers. At that period the western limits of Persia included 
 the ancient Parthian capital of Ctesiphon on the Tigris, about twenty-five miles 
 below modern Baghdad. Ctesiphon had suffered with varying fortunes many 
 attacks by Roman emperors and others ; but in a.d. 637 it surrendered to Sa-a'd, 
 the Arabian general. After that the political centre of Islam gradually shifted 
 from El Hi-jaz to El I'rak. The "Eastern Caliphate" lasted 626 years from 
 the death of Muhammad. In a.d. 1258 Hulagu and his Mongols extinguished 
 it. From that date to ours, Tatars, Turks, and Persians have kept wresting 
 
 1 V. ante, pp. 78-86. I logical, " tends to show that the age of tlie great 
 
 - Even supposing the calculation which fixes | rivers must be carried back to a date earlier than 
 
 Adam's date no further back than B.C. 4004 to be ac- 
 cepted, the references in Genesis to Phrat and " Hid- 
 dekel" — i.e., the Euphrates and the Tigris — as coeval 
 with Eden, assert for the present Babylonian plain 
 an antiquity of 6000 years. But according to Pro- 
 fessor Huxley, " another kind of evidence," sc. geo- 
 
 that at which our ingenuous youth is instructed that 
 the earth carne into e.xistence : " v. " Hasisadra's Ad- 
 venture," in Nineteenth Cetitury, June 1891. 
 
 ^ In art. " Babylonia," in Ency. Brit., vol. iii. p. 
 192. 
 
278 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. book iv. 
 
 from one another the mastery of the Tigris. To-day, as all the world knows, 
 the ball is with the Turk, as it has been for the last 250 years; but there is no 
 saying when it may be turned in a new direction. "Sublime Porte" is even a 
 more complex expression than " Government of India." The motive-power on 
 the Bosphorus resides in cliques of inflated Secretaries and " advisers " ; but the 
 Sultan's personality also constitutes a factor as formidable as it is uncertain. The 
 political conditions of El I'rak of course take their colour from those of Constanti- 
 nople. Fifty years ago the Pasha of Baghdad was a kind of sovereign. When the 
 Porte desired to oust him, a force had sometimes to be sent to accomplish that 
 object. In our day his enemies undermine him, and his masters displace him, by 
 telegraph. A bad system is administered by a worse executive ; he who has place 
 or money has nothing to fear save its being taken from him ; while the poor have 
 only their poverty to protect them. The Porte does not depute its best officials to 
 provinces which are considered places of banishment. 
 
 After the above rapid sketch, but slight explanation is needed of the disadvan- 
 tages which press on the urban and rural population of El I'rak as horse-breeders. 
 There is no want of inclination ; the commercial incentive is considerable ; and the 
 country, as has been seen, affords rare natural facilities. Wherever the Tigris, the 
 Euphrates, or the Dhi-a-la passes, or irrigational channels run, the man who ploughs 
 but an acre turns out a hobbled mare. The upas-tree is the Government. Agri- 
 cultural shows and horse-fairs are impossible ; for the Pasha who should start them 
 would be credited with the intention of annexing, for himself or for the military de- 
 partment, all the exhibits. The practice of periodically prohibiting the export of 
 horses harasses numerous classes. It turns honest merchants into smugglers. The 
 public treasury loses its custom's dues on exported horses. The young stock of the 
 country is hurried out of it without the wealthy classes having had an opportunity 
 of buying it. 
 
 All of us are familiar with the story of a colossal structure having once upon a 
 time been begun at Bab-il, or Babel, on the plains of El I'rak. It is not clear whether 
 some catastrophal incident of the prehistoric world makes its appearance in this 
 description ; or whether the purpose of the writer merely was to bring the existing 
 diversity of human speech into agreement with the fragment imbedded in the same 
 writing,^ to the effect that " the whole earth was of one language and of one speech," 
 at an antecedent period. But however this may be, if a tower and city fallen to wreck 
 and ruin were used to typify the character of the I'raki horse-stock, it might not be 
 inappropriate. It has already been stated that a large proportion of the so-called 
 Arabians which appear in foreign markets are produced in El I'rak. A competent 
 
 ' Gen. xi. 
 
CHAP. IV. THE ARABIAN IN EL I'RAK AND EAST THE TIGRIS. 
 
 279 
 
 judge of horses has recorded that, in the course of his professional career in India, he 
 had "scarcely seen," in the Arab breed, "the perfectly formed symmetrical creature 
 that is to be found in her Majesty's possession at home." ^ It is not surprising that 
 he should have formed this conclusion. The case of the Arabian is not the only one 
 in which the genuine article suffers in reputation through counterfeits being mistaken 
 for it. Sometimes, in El I'rak, when a home-bred colt is being shown, the owner 
 says that a ghaz-u of the Bedouin left it with him as an unweaned foal, because its 
 dam had been taken from them in foray. Such a tale is not impossible. The in- 
 tending purchaser need not receive it with a face of incredulity, but he should be 
 sceptical. In the rare instances in which the account is true, a pertinent question is, 
 What effect does the " water and air " of El I'rak produce on younglings which, after 
 having been foaled say in Najd, are thus expatriated ? but facts bearing on this point 
 are wanting. Occasionally a governor or a military commander brings to El I'rak 
 from Arabia proper a notable Ku-hai-lan, and lets the breeders use him. The result 
 is, the appearance of superior stock round his headquarters for many years afterwards. 
 Gradually, however, the stamp dies out, and the long backs and coarseness again 
 prevail. It is scarcely possible to fix a type of the I'rakt horse. They say of 
 Scotland that all its people get a sip of learning, and none of them a full draught. 
 And so in the Tigris valley, every horse has more or less of blood or breeding, and 
 no horse the full quantity. The only comprehensive description applicable is, that 
 they are all saddle-horses. Those that are bred in towns like Baghdad have no 
 true pedigrees. Light-framed colts grow up weedy, more like slices of horses than 
 horses. Bulky colts turn out coarse and beefy, with " pig's eyes " — which the Arabs, 
 by the way, call "locusts' eyes" — a thick skin, a throaty jowl, and a neck entering 
 the chest below the shoulder points. A touch of the comical is often imparted to 
 these soft town products, through the fashion of keeping the tail close-clipped, or 
 shaven, during colthood, to promote the growth of the hinder parts ! Sad to relate, 
 they are very generally suffered to be fruitful and multiply. Owing to this cause, and 
 through over-feeding, their manners resemble those of Persian horses. From not 
 being shut up, they are seldom pugnacious in company ; but most of them possess a 
 trick of neighing till their sides shake when they see a mare. No amount of cudgel- 
 ling will serve to conquer this habit. The more they are belaboured the more they 
 squeal, especially when they breathe the air of the desert. The only alternative is, 
 to bear with the noise that they make, or to castrate them. Many oriental peoples 
 entertain a prejudice against castration. This question is still a more or less open 
 one ; but having for thirty years advocated the emasculation of horses not required 
 
 1 A Glimpse at Horse-breeding, by Principal Vet. 
 Surg. F. F. Collins ; read before the United Services 
 
 Institution of India, 20th August 1878. 
 
28o THE ARABIAN AT HOME. book iv. 
 
 and not suited for propagation, especially cavalry and artillery cattle, we may as 
 well record that the only cases in which we have known the patient to be 
 lowered in strength or useful courage by this operation are those in which it has 
 been badly performed, or resorted to in animals that were too old, or were other- 
 wise disqualified. It is not impossible that, especially in the coarser breeds, there 
 are horses which, if unsexed, will lose a portion of their natural briskness ; but after 
 all that can be said, it is certain that agricultural communities which tie up their 
 yearling colts labour under a great disadvantage, when compared with others who 
 castrate them and turn them out. A slight practical lead in the latter direction is 
 being given in El I'rak by the Osmanli. Mounted soldiers naturally prefer geldings, 
 to screamers which they may have to rise and mind several times in the course of a 
 night If they would find them in the morning. Besides its military farriers, Baghdad 
 possesses at least one private practitioner of this useful art — who, although but a 
 cobbler, is a very skilful operator. First, he casts the patient, partly with a hobble 
 improvised from any odd piece of rope, and partly by pressure against the but- 
 tocks. After that, an old penknife, with a couple of twigs from the nearest tree 
 and a few inches of twine for clams, sees him through the business. A pinch of 
 sulphate of copper is then rubbed in, and the moment that the animal rises, as well 
 as twice a-day afterwards, he is mounted and cantered round the stable-yard, to 
 keep the wound from swelling. Only a drop of blood escapes. In eight years we 
 have never heard of any of this man's cases going on otherwise than favourably. 
 Occasionally he travels as far from home as the Euphrates, but his special quali- 
 fications are not utilised, except on mules, by any Arabs. The substance of this 
 digression Is, that the first thing wanted for the town-bred horse-stock of the country 
 of the Tig-rls is castration. 
 
 In El I'rak, as in other places, the further we recede from cities, the more 
 the horse improves. Thus the horse of the mixed pastoral and cultivating 
 Arabs of AI Ha-wi-ja serves as a useful substitute for the genuine Arabian, when 
 only a small price can be given. The U'baid, his breeders, have barley ; and 
 many of their colts touch 15 hands and upwards. Good specimens, when not too 
 suggestive of the gun wheel, after a month of town polish, pass with the inexperi- 
 enced for Arabians of the picture-book type. Once at Kar-kuk we bought one of 
 this class for ;^i5. Though only a four-year-old, he was already grown into a 
 weight-carrying charger, with good trotting action. For a long time he had been at 
 grass, and yet he carried us, in nearly a month of daily marching, over a most rugged 
 country, without ever having a sore back or making a bad stumble. If he had 
 been true-bred, instead of but a happy blend, he would have been very valuable. 
 As it was, the dealer who bought him when our journey was over, sold him in 
 Bombay to a racing confederacy for about twelve times his Kar-kuk price ! One 
 
CHAP. IV. THE ARABIAN IN EL FRAK AND EAST THE TIGRIS. 
 
 281 
 
 might as well take a horse out of the first passing Oxford Street omnibus and enter 
 him for the Grand National, as put one of his kind in training. In another place it 
 was stated that the Sa-yih families of the Sham-mar now pitch their tents in Al 
 Ha-wi-ja, owing to feuds with their kindred between the two great rivers. The 
 Sa-yih do not possess more than about a thousand mares. These are generally 
 undersized ; but they show a good deal of type and quality. The local dealers, 
 when they cannot just say that they obtained a horse from the Aeniza, are fond of 
 tracing him to the Sa-yih. A pair of Galloways from this quarter, picked up for 
 less than ;^20 each in the open lands round Tak-rit, may bring Rs. 1500 in Bombay, 
 and prove well worth it for light harness. A considerable number of the small 
 blood Arabs which are so much sought after for Indian pony-racing may be bought 
 young, for very moderate prices from the Sa-yih. 
 
 Next let us speak of the Kurds of El I'rak and their horses. Most readers know 
 that vast mountain-ranges shut off the Porte's Asiatic provinces from Persia. The 
 several masses, as they ascend and descend over one another, from the junction 
 of the two arms of the Euphrates, by Lake Van, to Su-lai-ma-ni-ya, present a 
 stupendous picture of confusion. Here and there a summit rises, white with snow, 
 to perhaps even 15,000 feet. But the usual elevation is much lower; and the 
 mountain-slopes and undulating uplands are clothed in summer with rich herbage. 
 Rivers and innumerable streams flow through the landscapes ; a temperate, or in 
 winter rigorous, climate hardens the people for labour ; and cereals are produced in 
 the valleys in extraordinary abundance. A very great, but not the only, element 
 in the population of this region consists of Kurds.^ In certain localities these 
 are claimed by Persia, and in others by the Porte ; but, as far as possible, they 
 preserve the tribal organisation. Although not Persians they are Aryans ; and this 
 appears in the numerous superstitions with which they variegate Islamism. Both in 
 Persia and Turkey the great body of them are Sun-nis ; but highly as they esteem 
 their patriarchal chiefs, they pay even greater reverence to "holy men" or 
 Sai-yids.^ In this respect they resemble the Afghans. Six words of the Kur-an, 
 detached from the context and misinterpreted, will outweigh with them every 
 earthly consideration, subsidies not excepted after the money has been pocketed. 
 The Persian and Osmanli Governments are greatly troubled by them. At the 
 
 ^ At the dawn of history, as now, a nation named 
 Giitii {warrior), which the Assyrians rendered by the 
 synonym of Gardu or Kardu, occupied these moun- 
 tains ; and Cyrus found it necessary to curb them 
 before he descended upon Babylon. 
 
 ^ The greatest personage in the Kurdi town of 
 Su-lai-mi-ni-ya, where this footnote is added, is a 
 certain Ka-ka Ah -mad, of patriarchal age but not 
 
 ascetic habit, to kiss whose hand thousands of people 
 congregate. As he receives only his disciples, it is 
 impossible to ascertain his tenets ; but the secret 
 meetings which he holds are probably traceable to 
 times before Is-lam. The title Kd-ka means elder 
 brother. The word reappears in India as cha-cha = 
 uncle. In Hungary, the leader of a band of gipsies is 
 their " Ga-ka." 
 
 2 N 
 
282 
 
 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 present time the country crossed by the Him-rin^ barrier, through which the Tigris 
 the U'dhaim, and the Dhi-a-la find their several openings into the Babylonian plain, 
 is harassed by one small Kurdish clan called the Ha-ma-wands, or Ah-mad-a-wands. 
 This tribe musters no more than five hundred fighting men ; and yet it keeps 
 up a sharp, if unequal, conflict with two great Governments, which are supposed 
 to be acting in concert, sometimes for its pacification, and at other times for its 
 destruction. We lately rode a march with a Bey of the Ha-ma-wands, who had 
 made terms with the Turks and stopped in his castle, doubtless to watch the 
 authorities. The blood-mare which he rode looked as if she had been bred in 
 Najd. He and his retainers exhibited feats of horsemanship in the most rugged 
 places ; and their expertness in loading and firing their Martinis at speed explained 
 the difficulty of reducing such centaurs to obedience. The first European Power 
 which shall acquire a cantonment in the lands inhabited by the Kurds should find 
 it easy, by means of regular pay and discipline adapted to the national temper, 
 to raise a formidable army.^ After what has preceded, it is superfluous to observe 
 that in the area now being glanced at, which is roughly calculated at 60,000 square 
 miles, local circumstances strongly conduce to horse-breeding. The nomadic Kurds 
 ride mares, not camels, and love to be well mounted. Their settled kindred raise 
 colts for sale to dealers, and rear the young stock cheaply. The drawback is want 
 of system, and the scarcity of good stallions. Now, as in the time of the Crusades, 
 every Kurd assigns the highest place to ancestry. It is probable that certain Kurd- 
 ish families which still flourish can each show a pedigree of at least five hundred 
 years. Nevertheless the practice of these people as horse-breeders seems to aim 
 at nothing higher than the obtaining of foals out of such mares as they possess by 
 any horses which may strike their fancy. Hence it is wrong to assign to the term 
 " Kurdi horse" any other meaning than that of a horse bred by the Kurds. In 
 this sense, many so-called Arabian horses are more correctly Kurdi ones. If 
 Arab blood form the basis of the Kurdish horse-stock, admixture is its prevailing 
 feature. We have only once seen in El Irak a horse that reminded us of the 
 thoroughbred, or nearly thoroughbred, weight-carriers of the Shires. This was an 
 aged grey which the Baghdad troops had taken in a skirmish with the Ha-ma-wands 
 near the Persian frontier. Nobody knew his history except his owner, whose split 
 
 ^ The Him-rin range leaves the main series of the 
 Zagros near Man-da-li, and runs S.E. to N.W., to 
 within a short distance of the ruins of Al Hadhr {q. v. 
 in Index I.) Not its height, which rarely exceeds 
 500 feet, but its length, about 200 miles, and breadth 
 make this rocky barrier formidable. More or less 
 elevated ridges of sandstone and pebbles run parallel 
 with it, enclosing gorges and oases, and serving as 
 
 outer defences to the central recesses. 
 
 2 General Sir H. C. Rawlinson, in 1882, computed 
 the Kurds under Turkey at 15,000,000, and those 
 under Persia at 750,000. — {Ency. Brit., vol. xiv. p. 
 156.) The term Kurd-istdn, or Kjird country, is more 
 convenient than scientific. The Kurds are distributed 
 from about 39 N. lat. and 39 E. long, to about 34 N. 
 lat. and 47 E. long. 
 
CHAP. IV. THE ARABIAN IN EL PRAK AND EAST THE TIGRIS. 283 
 
 skull had swung for a clay's march at the saddle-bow of an Osmanli Rustam. After 
 figuring for a time under the bulky form of a military Pisha, the horse was sold 
 for the stud of a Persian governor. He had plenty of blood for himself; but 
 whether he had enough to transmit to others was doubtful. Probably he was one 
 of those with respect to which it is necessary, in order to breed others like them, 
 to go back to the sire and dam. 
 
 There is no evidence that European blood has ever been used by the horse- 
 breeders of El I'rak. The case might easily have been otherwise, for these people 
 are very different from the Bedouin Arabs. St Petersburg imports a considerable 
 number of English horses, the progeny of which, in the form of Russian car- 
 riage cattle, may be seen as far eastward as Kirmanshah in Persia, only ten days' 
 march from Baghdad. If a Consul, or a merchant, residing on the Tigris, or on 
 the Shattu '1 A'rab, were to bring out for his own riding a foreign stallion, and 
 the natives liked him, they would bribe the grooms and obtain his services. But 
 a thing may be possible, or even probable, and yet may never have actually 
 happened ; and such would appear to be the case in this instance. An Anglo- 
 Arabian, or " English-Arab," bred on the Tigris, is still in the future. Supposing a 
 series of colts of this description to begin to appear in the Bombay market, it is 
 likely that the local Turf-Clubs would find it necessary to frame a new rule, with 
 the object of excluding them from the many valuable races which in Western 
 India are still reserved for Arabs. Even in moist Bengal the produce of the Eng- 
 lish thoroughbred horse, not always from the best mares, has often given weight 
 and a beating to champion Arabs. 
 
 The I'raki cultivators are fully aware that if they could breed better horses 
 they would obtain better prices from the wandering dealers ; but there is no one to 
 give them the lead. Their mares are inferior, but they are better than the horses 
 to which they are sent. The so-called Arab horse-stock of El I'rak thus dwindles 
 more and more. Signs of this ajapear in the prevailing colours. The silver, nut- 
 meg, and sky - blue greys of the desert are lost on the Tigris in a series of 
 debased roans, sorrels, and russets. Chestnuts turn pale or washy, and put on 
 blazes or white stockings. Bay to a great extent disappears. While residing at 
 Baghdad we have obtained from the Bedouin horses of all the good colours ; 
 but no breeder has ever asked for the services of one of them which was not a bay. 
 The reason of this is, that buyers will give a better price for a bay I'raki than for an 
 I'raki of any other colour. We know what an extraordinary aptitude England pos- 
 sesses for changing waste lands and pastures into granaries and cities, not only in 
 the British Isles, excepting Ireland, but in every country which she occupies. The 
 drawback is that the supply of horses fit for military purposes decreases in like pro- 
 portion wherever her foot is planted, so that it becomes necessary to look abroad 
 
284 THE ARABIAN AT HOME. book iv. 
 
 for remounts. Naturally El I'rak, owing to its nearness to Bombay and Karachi, 
 is full of interest from this point of view. The worst I'raki is at least inured to 
 a burning sun in summer, and to more of cold and wet in winter than he will ever 
 see in India. The better bred ones, especially those of Kurds like the Da-u-di-ya, 
 abound in useful qualities. Very commonly they grow to 14 hands and 2 inches 
 at the withers. They are good marchers, and very hardy, and have strong legs 
 and feet. The Kurd's horse never refuses to thrust his head into his feeding- 
 bag, no matter how severe a day's work he may have done. A large number of 
 colts which more or less answer to this description are always coming forward on 
 both sides of the Tigris. It has, however, to be remembered that horses adapted 
 for high-class cavalry cannot be bought in lots, but require to be collected in the 
 course of long miles of travel. It would be very difficult for remount agents, espe- 
 cially if Europeans, successfully to compete in this work with the jam-bazes. When 
 the military authorities of an Indian Presidency send officers to buy remounts in 
 countries already well opened, they defeat their own ends ; for the supply of horses 
 through the established channels is thereby checked. 
 
 The deputing of experts for the purchase of stud horses rests on a different 
 basis, as it cannot be said that the regular exporters specially address themselves to 
 this task. If we wished to breed race-horses, whether in India or in any other 
 country, we should use none but the best Newmarket blood on both sides. The 
 improvement of Eastern stocks, so as to bring them up to the mark of military 
 service, is, however, a different matter ; and all who realise the necessity of avoiding 
 extremes in breeding, question the utility, from this point of view, of the over-sized 
 and over-developed horses of Europe. Accordingly, the Government of India for 
 many years endeavoured to procure compact and well-bred Arabians through its 
 Political establishment in El I'rak, or " Turkish Arabia" ; but the system of ordering 
 " per indent " a dozen or more horses, all of the same pattern, did not invariably 
 yield satisfactory results ; and it is now considered preferable to select, in India, 
 Arabian, or oftener, it may be feared, I'raki, stallions from the strings of the jam- 
 bazes. A combination of strong points, with a freedom from defects, such as is 
 rarely met with in Eastern countries, is required to make a good stallion of any 
 description ; and in purchasing horses which are intended to contribute through 
 their near and remote descendants to the defence of the empire, it is impossible 
 to maintain too high a standard, provided that it is a practical one. The horses 
 suitable for this purpose which we have seen in a decade's residence in Baghdad, 
 might all be tied with one rope. India is not the only foreign country that draws 
 on El I'rak for stud-horses. The Shah of Persia, and still more frequently the tribal 
 magnates who live by spear and spur in the Bakht-i-a-ri and Lu-ri mountains, 
 despatch agents in the same direction. A few years ago, a Russian cavalry officer 
 
CHAP. IV. THE ARABIAN IN EL I'RAK AND EAST THE TIGRIS. 
 
 j8s 
 
 riding a weight-carrying and very charger-like Turku-ma-ni, visited Baghdad on 
 duty of this kind ; but he did not see a horse which he reckoned worth buyino-. 
 If he had been a novice instead of, as the case actually was, an old campaigner, 
 he would have found no difficulty in collecting a boat-load. A decade or two later 
 the proper bureau of the Czar's Government would most likely have had occasion 
 to pass an order on reports submitted to it, that " the Arabian stallion had been tried 
 and found wanting ; " the truth perhaps all the time being, that not one of the 
 horses which had been forwarded could claim other than a chance connection with 
 the stock of Ku-hail. 
 
 AN INTERIOR IN BAGHDAD. 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 lANY may think that the full stop at the end of the preceding chapter 
 would have made the best conclusion ; but it might then have been 
 said that everything had been told about the Arabian horse except 
 where and how to find him. We therefore propose to consider now 
 the various methods in which horses of this breed are procurable — without, of course, 
 approaching the too wide subject of horse-buying generally. And so many of our 
 countrymen are interested in promoting and extending the use of Arabs in the 
 British Isles and Empire, that a few observations on the requirements of Eastern 
 horses during and after exportation will also perhaps be appreciated. 
 
 It may be as well at the outset again to protest against the idea that any 
 royal road to success lies open to the buyers of Arabian horses. Before all things, 
 as has been seen, it is needful that he who searches shall possess the power of re- 
 cognising the genuine animal in all places and circumstances. He must also be 
 able to decide, in doubtful cases, whether a horse is perhaps pure-bred, or too far 
 outside the pale to be worth considering. Another necessary endowment is the 
 faculty of brushing aside random stories and exaggerations. In some countries, 
 if not in all, it is a positive advantage to be a little hard of hearing. Persons are to 
 be found in our islands, both in the breeder and the dealer classes, who, for the sake 
 of their reputations, will honestly give one the benefit of their knowledge and ex- 
 perience. But in the East this resource is not so fully available, for the Bedouin 
 Arabs are not horse-dealers, and Caveat emptor is the motto of the jam-bazes. A 
 man may have taken the highest degree in a veterinary college, and yet be wanting 
 in the power of obtaining information on points of horse-history. Do not then 
 imagine, O youthful reader, that the perusal of the following, or of any other pages, 
 will qualify you to go through a collection of Eastern horses, and separate the true 
 metal from the counterfeit. Written descriptions, especially when accompanied by 
 authentic portraits, are useful ; but experience is the great schoolmaster. Horsemen, 
 
 2 o 
 
290 CONCLUSION. 
 
 at least, will not quarrel with that portion of Mr Squeers' system of education 
 which, when a boy had learned what a horse was, sent him to work out the re- 
 mainder of the lesson by practical methods. 
 
 One other prefatory remark of a general nature will perhaps prove useful — 
 namely, that he who desires to buy an Arab should have a clear knowledge of the 
 proposed object. The method which he ought to follow depends more or less on 
 that. When merely a charger, a hunter, or a pleasure-horse is wanted, it is seldom 
 advisable to go behind the regular exporters, and try to approach the breeders. To 
 find a colt which shall win a name in racing story is a far more serious undertaking. 
 And when the design is to obtain an Arabian good enough in points and pedigree 
 to improve the character of other breeds, special opportunities have to be awaited. 
 
 Section I. — Of buying straight from the Bedouin. 
 
 We say "straight," because the European who deputes an Arab, or an 
 Traki, messenger, or agent, to go and buy horses for him in the Arabian desert, 
 can scarcely lay claim to a sound understanding. 
 
 " Let every eye negotiate for itself, 
 And trust no agents," ^ 
 
 should be written in large letters, and kept before the eyes of every one whose 
 situation exposes him to this temptation. As for him who is sent on such an 
 errand, his courage mounts with the occasion. His employer may be in Europe, 
 or in India, or, at the nearest, in a town of El I'rak or Syria. In order to join 
 the Bedouin, he must necessarily enter spaces where there are no posts and 
 telegraphs. He must also carry the requisite cash, in gold if he go towards 
 Damascus, or in dollars in Arabia proper, for the wandering Arabs laugh at 
 paper money. The reader may be more inclined to wonder at a messenger 
 in these circumstances ever returning, than at his doing so after unfaithful 
 service ; but the latter is the Eastern method. Usually the man makes a com- 
 promise with his conscience. While serving himself first, he also tries to obtain 
 some return for his employer. One great question with him, naturally, is how 
 to avoid the danger of falling among thieves. If he is a native of El I'rak or Syria, 
 he settles perhaps for a year on the Euphrates, and utilises the money which 
 has so foolishly been intrusted to him in setting up a little cultivation. Or, if 
 ambitious of connecting himself with the Bedouin, he may enter the desert, claim 
 a Shekh's hospitality, and sue for the hand of a tent-maiden — as is needless to 
 
 1 " Much Ado about Nothing," Act ii. sc. i. 
 
OF BUYING STRAIGHT FROM THE BEDOUIN. 291 
 
 say, unsuccessfully. At last, when he thinks that it is time to return, he buys 
 a number of "peacocky" horses in towns like Der or wherever he sees them, and 
 unblushingly delivers them to his employer. 
 A Persian poet says — 
 
 If thou art single on the pack, 
 
 Ride where thou hast a mind ; 
 But with another at thy back, 
 
 'Tis best to be resigned ! ^ 
 
 This may apply to Orientals. But as regards our countrymen, we fail to per- 
 ceive that even the bliss of matrimony in any sensible degree restrains the tendency 
 to travel. Taking no account of family parties, or of cases in which the explorer is 
 a spinster or a widow, it may be depended on that for the traveller, as for the soldier 
 and the sailor, no pole-star is so full of guidance as the '' placens tLXor" who is waiting 
 for him in England. Nevertheless it is too true that none of our countrymen, or 
 countrywomen, whose steps have trod Arabia proper, have ever yet tested the hospi- 
 tality of nations like Kah-tan, with the view of discovering the extent to which they 
 practise horse-breeding. The circumstances which account for this have been de- 
 scribed in an earlier chapter.^ It has also been unreservedly stated that Najd is the 
 source of sources ; and that it becomes us to be guarded in all conclusions relative to 
 the richness of Arabia in horses, till the innermost pastures of the peninsula shall 
 be examined. We therefore wait for the appearance in the rising generation of 
 a Mr Blunt and a Mr Doughty rolled into one, before whose spirit of adven- 
 ture and force of character the guardian genii of the Nu-fudh will vanish. Our 
 regret is that, unless we should quit the safe ground of personal knowledge, we 
 cannot, as regards Najd, afford to such traveller of the future any very useful 
 hints or itinerary. The programme which is about to be offered to the buyer 
 of Arabian horses of authentic pedigree will not conduct him into middle Arabia. 
 The starting-point may be either Aleppo or Damascus at his pleasure. The 
 ground marked out includes all the spaces into which the tribes of Najd have 
 kept issuing, ever since the overthrow of the ancient nationalities of Syria 
 by the Chaldsean empire. Numerous facts bearing on our present subject have 
 already been cited ; for example, that the Darley was bought in the deserts 
 touched by the Euphrates ; ^ and that Burckhardt recommended Damascus as a 
 good position for the establishment of persons employed to purchase high-class 
 Arabians.* It has further appeared how easy, and to one possessing Bohemian 
 habits and a sound digestion how delightful, it is for the European to visit the 
 camps, or rather cities of camps, which form the only hospitable features of the 
 
 1 Sa'-di, in the " Gul-istan." 
 " V. ante, p. 33, et pp. 44, 45. 
 
 3 V. ante, p. 269. 
 * V. ante, p. 64. 
 
292 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 barren land between the middle course of the Euphrates and El I'rak. Occa- 
 sionally people write to us, both from Europe and India, asking to be informed 
 how to procure Arab horses, taller, or faster, or handsomer, or cheaper, or of 
 surer pedigrees, than those exported by the jam-bazes. It is always difficult to 
 answer such letters, either from knowing too little of the writer, or because he 
 evidently expects to receive, through some deus ex machind, and without risk 
 or trouble on his part, specimens of the best colts or fillies, or brood mares, in 
 Arabia. But if we imagine ourselves speaking here to one of our countrymen 
 whose enthusiasm prompts him to see with his own eyes the Aeniza horse-stock, 
 the following is what occurs to us. It is taken for granted that you are a judge of 
 horses, not self-styled, but made by experience. If not a specialist on Arabs, it may 
 be all the better. Your mind will be the opener ; you will not go to worship, any 
 more than to cavil, but will take things soberly as you find them. First of all, it is 
 necessary to acquire some knowledge of Arabic. Do not all at once run off on this 
 errand to Arabia. A layer of book-work ^ forms the proper foundation ; and that is 
 better laid wherever one may be in a tolerable climate, and with a competent person 
 to assist, than amid the distractions of travel. Beware of outfitters and outfits. 
 Nothing that requires to be whitened, or blackened, or starched, or ironed, is suitable 
 for the Arabian desert. The best material for shoes is the deer-skin which in 
 India is called sdm-bar. The ideal dress for Eastern travel is that which, while 
 draping the "forked radish" aspect of humanity, shall be equally comfortable to 
 walk, ride, and sleep in ; having nothing tight about it except the hi-zdm, or belt, 
 which girds the loins. An inside-pocket should hold a trusty stop-watch. The 
 best route is by Bombay, where it is not impossible to engage a couple of Indian 
 riding-lads. Among the Arabs there is no lack of youths who can " ride like 
 fiends," as the saying is ; but that is precisely what is not wanted here. The 
 biggest box, or only big box, in your baggage should hold a couple of 5 lb. saddles, 
 a few snaffle bridles, and an eighth of a mile steel chain to measure off a trial- 
 ground. Tentes <£abris, common saddles, and other travelling requisites, are best 
 bought in El I'rak. By way of "sinews," ^1000 should prove sufficient. Brains 
 will improve a slender capital ; while one effect of too much money often is to 
 make us unduly depend on others. Thus prepared, you would find Bussorah a 
 good starting-point. Half of your money should be sent from there, through a 
 
 1 Phrase-books in the Roman character may fulfil 
 all the requirements of Cook's tourists ; but the key- 
 to a country is its language ; and the Arabic alphabet, 
 which is also that of the Turks, the Persians, and the 
 Muslim Indians, need frighten no one. The excellent 
 
 Arabic grammar by the late Professor Wright of Cam- 
 bridge is unfortunately out of print. A good substi- 
 tute for it is that by Dr A. Socin (1S85), Professor 
 in the University of Tubingen. A very small gram- 
 mar is that by Fi-ris El Shidiac, of Beyrouth. 
 
OF BUYING STRAIGHT FROM THE BEDOUIN. 293 
 
 Consulate, to Damascus. The next step would be to buy riding - camels, and 
 engage three followers of the liberated slave class, which would cost about ^100. 
 With the remaining ;^400 in your waist-belt you should then join a party of Agelis 
 who are going to Al Ha-sa to purchase camels. If you should choose the easy 
 Arab cloak and tunic, remember that, in Northern Arabia, disguise is as unpolitic, 
 ahd indeed ridiculous, as it is unnecessary. Poetry never uttered a sounder warning 
 through any of her prophets than Scott's in " Marmion " : — 
 
 " O what a tangled web we weave, 
 When first we practise to deceive ! " 
 
 However dressed, be known for an Englishman and a Christian. Outside 
 of the Peninsula religion counts for little, and no one has a right to pretend to 
 believe in another's faith, or to go through forms of worship as a kind of play- 
 acting. Short of that, the company manners of the Arabs should be studied, 
 and more or less adopted. At first these do not attract us, but by degrees we 
 perceive their advantages. Even the oriental mode of eating proceeds upon 
 the sound principle that every man can rinse his fingers, whereas the clean- 
 ing of a knife and fork is an undeveloped art in backward countries. A well- 
 washed hand is better than an unrubbed iron, or, as is daily seen in India, a 
 spoon freshly wiped with the end of a scullion's turban. Between the Medi- 
 terranean and the Sea of Persia men's complexions are too diverse for mere 
 colour to attract particular attention. As for speech, the Aeniza and the Sham- 
 mar are accustomed to hear the pure language of the Ku-raish infinitely confused 
 and deformed by strangers. Well-worn garments are not only the most com- 
 fortable, but also least excite the covetous thoughts of the Bedouin. Above all 
 things, keep clear of the style and manners of a Pasha. Rather be one whose 
 estate needs mending, and who would improve it by Arab methods. Thus it 
 will be the easier for you, while moving about in Al Ha-sa, to suit yourself 
 from among your Ageli friends with a ra-fik or partner. Aw-zval ra-ftk, 
 thun-ma ta-rik, or. First, a companion, then the road, is a maxim among the 
 Arabs. An associate of this kind, to whom a small money interest in the enter- 
 prise has been given, is essential to success ; but he should not be a townsman, 
 or one who has seen the world. After collecting camels in Arabia Proper, and 
 moving with them, still under Ageli pilotage, to Damascus, you would there 
 find such a brisk demand for camel cattle, that you might sell a part of the 
 drove for the cost price of the whole ; or, otherwise, you might retain all your 
 camels, with the view of bartering them for colts and fillies. Elsewhere it has 
 been seen that camels represent more money in Sha-mi-ya than in Najd ; and, 
 
294 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 irrespective!)^ of commercial value, a beautiful dromedary exercises an extraor- 
 dinary power over the hearts of the Bedouin. Once we chanced to be in an 
 encampment of the Sham-mar when a southerner arrived with a string of camels. 
 It did not appear whether he was a horse-dealer and a camel-dealer combined, 
 or only the latter. The first thing which struck us was how comfortably he 
 progressed, with camels' milk to sup on, unlimited transport, and a family party 
 of stalwart brethren to assist him. His camels were in an exhausted state. 
 Through over-travel their humps cleaved to their bellies, as the Arabs say.^ All 
 their beauty depended on their breeding, and that produced a great impression. 
 As the news of their arrival spread, groups of Bedouin horsemen, with their long 
 spears over their shoulders, repaired to the spot from considerable distances. 
 Merchant-buyers like those of Ku-wait, who will take colts as they are offered, 
 good and middling all in a lot, without minding how long their strings may 
 grow, certainly find it more advantageous to buy with camels than with money. 
 We shall, however, suppose you to sell off the shuffle-footed cargo which you 
 brought with you from Al Ha-sa, except a few head retained as riding- camels 
 and milchers. It would be well to leave those with two of your black servants 
 among the qtiasi Bedouin round Damascus, while you yourself set off to the 
 fertile Syrian district of Al Hau-ran. It would be necessary there to set up a 
 regular horse nursery — on which, however, no buildings would have to be erected, 
 as booths of black blanketing are sufficient in that Arcadian climate. ^loo laid 
 out on cultivation would bring your crops well forward. Protected by the Druses, 
 your property would be safe. Your labourers would be paid in produce, and 
 the customary rate is one-fourth of every harvest. Intrusting the depot to your 
 third slave-servant, you and your companion would then have to join a caravan 
 of merchants trading with the Bedouin proper.^ A couple of hundred pounds 
 
 ^ The camel is said to feed on the fat of his own 
 hump^ and this is proverbial in Arabia. What the 
 paunch is in man, and the top of the tail in sheep, 
 the sa-7idm, or hump, is in the camel, — his provision 
 for a time of leanness. 
 
 ^ Such of the Bedouin people as periodically ap- 
 proach towns are much attracted by the shops. We 
 lately saw at Kar-ba-la a brisk trade going on with 
 the Aeniza in metal saucer-baths from Birmingham ; 
 and on inquiry it appeared that these utensils are now, 
 within certain circuits, replacing the ancient wooden 
 trenchers from which the Arab of the desert eats his 
 mutton. — V. ante, p. 191. The remoter Bedouin na- 
 tions depend on pedlars. Articles of dress, swords, 
 powder and ball, horse-shoes, nails, iron, leather, cof- 
 fee, tobacco, and spices thus reach them. Damascus 
 is a great starting-place of the pedlars. The travelling 
 
 merchants possess their own tents and camels. When 
 they have joined a camp they move about with it, 
 and they will barter their goods for sheep and butter. 
 Another town from which they set out is Ku-bai-sa, 
 situated at the I'rak entrance of Sha-mi-ya. In sum- 
 mer and autumn Ku-bai-sa is half empty, while its 
 inhabitants are out with merchandise among the 
 Aeniza. Burckhardt says of the traders who in his 
 day had their homes in Damascus, that they were 
 "men of probity, and in good esteem among the Bed- 
 ouin " ; that half of them were Christians ; and that 
 "should a European traveller wish to visit the in- 
 terior of the desert between Damascus and the Per- 
 sian Gulf, he may best contrive to accomplish his 
 design through their assistance " {op. cit. in Catalog. 
 No. 15, vol. i. p. 195). 
 
OF BUYING STRAIGHT FROM THE BEDOUIN. 
 
 29s 
 
 invested in cloth and other merchandise would furnish you with the best intro- 
 duction to the nomadic nations of the Euphrates. Thus in a short time you 
 would find yourself among the real Arabs of the desert. The advantages of 
 the unostentatious style of travelling would then be apparent. Several of our 
 countrymen have paid such high prices for Arab horses, and exhibited such 
 enthusiasm, that to this day Sha-mi-ya and Al Ja-zi-ra long for the coming of others 
 like them. We have grown chary of those of the Bedouin who cultivate what in 
 Europe would be called a shid. A simple fellow who owns but one mare, and 
 rides her, is more likely to tie a genuine colt or filly beside his tent than the 
 Shekh who boasts a wide connection with Pashas, Consuls, and jam-bazes. But 
 when one is travelling as a Beg, or European of position, it is almost impossible 
 to enter a Bedouin encampment without being conducted straight to the Shekh's 
 ma-dhif or guest-tent. Even when the stranger is permitted to set up his own 
 little tent, the Bedouin will be attracted by it, as schoolboys are by the monkey- 
 house in the Zoological Gardens. Sticks may not be pushed through its open- 
 ings, but it will be intruded on in every possible manner. If he offer a price for a 
 colt — no nomad will condescend to name a sum himself — the result will be that 
 the owner will jump on its back and ride out of sight in a huff,^ perhaps to return, 
 perhaps not. Under no circumstances are the Aeniza easy to deal with ; but the 
 more quietly you approach them, the less impracticable you will find them. The 
 proper class of stock to purchase would be two-year-olds which had suffered no 
 unfair usage. The very flower of the race should be taken, — the broad-hipped, 
 large-jointed, darting-actioned colts and fillies, of assured Al Kkam-sa lineage, but 
 not necessarily of "fancy strains." These selections should be sent to drink milk 
 and grow to three-year-olds among the Damascus Arabs, while you waited to pick 
 a second lot from the following season's two-year-olds. By the time that you had 
 accomplished this task, your first year's purchases would have ripened. It would 
 then be proper to transfer these first-fruits from the neighbourhood of Damascus 
 to the Hau-ran farm, where there would be plenty of barley. In a few months' 
 time, with the help of your riding-lads, you would know more about them than 
 mere looking at them would ever tell you. The Arabs say that the horse is 
 in the foal, as the flower is in the hid ; but then the bud cannot be seen into. 
 Such of your selections as did not look as well after a course of steady work 
 as when only standing, could be sold to the jam-bazes. Season after season 
 it would be necessary to follow the same course of buying, feeding, trying, and 
 drafting. In two or three years' time you would find yourself possessed of a 
 
 ' Arabic also contains the imitative word hajf, in 
 the sense of blowing, as the wind does. What we 
 
 call a fan, and the Indians a pank-lid, is mu-haf-fa 
 in Arabic. 
 
296 CONCLUSION. 
 
 collection of the very best stock which Northern Arabia has to offer,— of Najdi 
 
 race ; proved runners, supposing the gaudia certaminis to form your object ; 
 young, sound, and of ascertained pedigrees. 
 
 Section II. — Of buying in Arabian and I'raki Towns. 
 
 So much has been said on this subject, that the merest summary of the chief 
 facts will now suffice. 
 
 In towns like Ha-yil, where Arab, not Osmanli, rule prevails, the European 
 stranger is allowed but little liberty of action. A mare can hardly be moved from 
 her pickets for his inspection without the A-mir's order. Instead of quietly 
 marking such animals as he would like to purchase, and afterwards tempting 
 their owners to part with them, he has to take those which are offered to him, 
 and express his obligations at the same time that he pays the money. 
 
 In parts like Bussorah, where Turkish officials fill the chief places, the field 
 is opener. A late Governor-General of El I'rak was so fond of horses, or 
 rather of the money which they represented, that he never went on tour 
 without brineinof back both colts and fillies which he had collected from the 
 Bedouin. At that period, chiefly at the instance of that very Pasha, the Sul- 
 tan's Government persistently obstructed the export of horses. But an easy 
 way of getting round this difficulty was open to the wealthier dealers. When 
 one of them had a string of horses which he desired to take to India, all 
 that he had to do was, to buy two or three colts from the Pasha, in the 
 price of which a pass for all the others was tacitly understood to be included. 
 To our certain knowledge, several very high-class Najdi horses have, in the course 
 of the last ten years, thus been taken from Baghdad to India. And apart from 
 officials, there are many Persian and Indian residents of Baghdad and Kar-ba-la 
 who are great collectors of Arab mares and horses from the Bedouin nations. 
 It is true that such people do not, as a rule, sell their property; but many a 
 horse and other object which is "not for sale," may nevertheless be bought. 
 Outside of the trafficking classes, all Easterns like to call that with which they 
 part a gift, and the price which they receive the return present. Self-respect 
 is thus maintained, while mutual kindly feeling is strengthened. Before any 
 European founds on these facts the conclusion that towns like Baghdad are 
 good places to visit in search of Arab horses, it will be well for him to consider 
 all that has been stated about the activity of the jam-bazes. While he is sleep- 
 ing, or dining, or writing letters, these people will be on the watch. No sooner 
 does a horde of the Bedouin encamp within a two or three daj^s' journey of 
 
OF PROCURING THROUGH CONSULATES OR CONSULS. 297 
 
 a town, than a stream of professional buyers begins to flow in their direction. At 
 such times, one may also notice long-haired and barefooted figures leading colts 
 into the town. This may seem to contradict the commonly accepted statement 
 that the Bedouin will not bring their colts to market. But all such rules are sub- 
 ject to exceptions ; and, besides, it is not always that these hawkers of colts are true 
 Bedouin. Under most circumstances, when a horse of note is brought into a town, 
 the jam-bazes are sure to see him before any word of him reaches the European 
 quarter. It is the case that the Englishman may afterwards buy the animal from 
 the jam-baz who has been beforehand with him ; but in order to play this card, 
 he must be a resident, not a visitor, as such chances do not often happen. More- 
 over, the price that he will have to pay will represent not only the animal's value 
 in the distant market for which he is intended, but the sum which his owner hopes, 
 or imagines, that he will there obtain for him. 
 
 Section III. — Of procuring through Consulates or Consuls. 
 
 Travellers, especially those of position, expect a great deal of assistance 
 from Consuls. The Government mint-mark is supposed to instil information into 
 these officials ; and in some situations they are regarded as co-ordinate with Divine 
 Providence. But in order to sift this, it is necessary to know the Consul, and 
 also the dragoman, or other member of his establishment, through whose filmy 
 eyes he chiefly sees things. The situation of the Consulate also requires to 
 be considered. From the point of view which now concerns us, the Damascus, 
 Aleppo, and Bussorah Consulates are more advantageous positions than the 
 Baghdad one. The British flag, unfortunately, no longer flies at Mosul. 
 
 The influence of the foreign Consulates in Asiatic Turkey is, at the best, 
 a very variable quantity. The local people who are the most forward to cultivate 
 a connection with them do not invariably belong to the most respectable classes. 
 The Shekhs of the Arabs will freely give their friendship in exchange for Martinis, 
 telescopes, and revolvers ; but when a service is proposed to them in return, they 
 only "ask for more." They reserve their own offerings for Turkish Pashas. 
 The sentiment of clannishness produces the same effects in tribal bodies which 
 nationality does in Europe. No British tradesman ever seriously quarrelled with 
 himself for overcharging a Frenchman. And in the case of the Arabs, honesty, 
 and even generosity, inside the gens, are not incompatible with cunning and rapacity 
 for all who are outside of it. 
 
 It should further be observed that a Consulate cannot cultivate the friend- 
 ship of the Bedouin Arabs, without the susceptibihties of the Ottoman Govern- 
 
 2 p 
 
298 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ment being thereby offended. The reason of this is obvious. Jealousy of 
 European influence forms a marked feature in the poHcy and attitude of the 
 Porte, especially in its outlying provinces. When a Consul quits his flag-town, the 
 authorities are careful to send an escort with him. Even if he were to obtain 
 regular leave of absence, it is probable that he would experience greater diffi- 
 culty than a private person in forming the acquaintance of the Bedouin nations. 
 It is true that, if he cannot easily go out himself, he has those whom he can 
 send; but the warning above given against buying through agents is here appli- 
 cable. To borrow an Arab figure, those who cultivate this field will always be 
 thin. We write these words feelingly. A few autumns ago, when the dates were 
 turning golden, and the Aeniza, according to their habit, were swarming into 
 El I'rak to buy them, rumour said that in one of their camps there was a dark- 
 grey colt, of the Had-ban In-ze-hi strain, which was bound to grow into a horse. 
 Everybody talked about this colt, and his services were in great request among 
 horse-breeders on the Tigris. For official reasons, it was impossible to set out 
 after him. It was to be feared that, if a professional buyer were to be paid 
 for going to see him, he would contrive to get him for himself, and keep him, if 
 he liked him ; while if a greenhorn were sent, he would take him as a cock 
 does a gooseberry. The messenger chosen was "respectable," but he was in- 
 experienced. In due time he returned, proudly leading, in lieu of the fifty honest 
 liras which we had given him, a spidery object, whose fore-legs looked as if they 
 grew out of one hole ; too light for draught ; straight-shouldered ; very pinched 
 in the girthing-place ; and with wretched walking action. The jam-bazes were 
 busy buying for India, but ^15 was the highest offer which any of them would 
 make for him ! A plain-spoken friend was of opinion that A'-ji-lu '1 Fu-gu-gi, 
 the Shekh of the Di-wam division of the Sba', into whose Tartarean pouch 
 our sovereigns had descended, must have "lifted" him from some tribe of cow- 
 keepers ; but it was not so. For one thing, he had the true Arabian head, with 
 a large and bold jtb-ha, or forehead, covering the brain-cavity. His skin was 
 very fine; and every hair in the mane and tail was separate and silky. His 
 back and loins were beautifully formed, and by the power of them he "lost," 
 one morning in a mile trial, an I'ra-ki mare bulky enough to carry him. Unless 
 there exist some fatality which suspends, where the Arabs are concerned, the 
 common rules of evidence, both his sire and dam belonged to one of the great 
 strains of Najd, and the former had been bought at a large price by a Consul 
 for a stud in Europe, during the northward migration in the year before of the Di- 
 wam Aeniza. Nevertheless, after two years' keep, he appeared only fit to carry 
 a desert urchin. When a colt is shaped like him, why should we concern ourselves 
 with his pedigree ? 
 
OF BUYING ARABIANS WHICH HAVE BEEN EXPORTED. 
 
 299 
 
 Section IV. — Of buying Arabians which have been Exported. 
 
 This means, taking advantage in distant markets, chiefly or wholly the In- 
 dian and the Egyptian, of the labours and experience of the professional buyers. 
 We cannot speak of Egypt from recent personal knowledge. Perhaps, if the 
 British occupation continue, the jam-bazes of Upper I'rak and Syria will more 
 and more look for a market in Cairo, especially in the present fallen state of the 
 Indian rupee. But it may safely be asserted that, in our clay, as for the last 
 hundred years or so, Bombay is the best and greatest market in the world 
 for Arabian horses. ^ It has been seen how, during several months of every 
 year, the draught of a vast drag-net, which has been passed more or less over 
 all the country of the Arabian horse, discharges itself into India. There is 
 not a colt in Arabia which may not one day be seen at Byculla. On several 
 occasions we have recognised in the Bombay sale-stables a pedigree horse which 
 we had known, a year or two previously, in Sha-mi-ya. In the saddling paddock 
 at Poona, on the Governor's Cup day, a larger number of first-class Arabians are 
 annually assembled than may easily be seen in any one spot in Arabia, if the 
 brood-mares and fillies be excepted. All credit, then, to the jam-bazes of Najd, 
 the "Flanks of Najd," I'rak A'rabi, and Mosul. If, thus far, we have done less 
 than justice to these hard-working and far-travelled traders, we would here make 
 up for it. There is an Eastern proverb that when a stranger offers you curdled 
 milk, two measures are water and one spoonful is whey. It has been seen 
 how completely this description applies to the jam-bazes; but it would be im- 
 possible for them to carry on their useful calling on any other principle. They 
 do not leave their homes, and wives and families, for the greater part of every 
 year, merely that they may enjoy a change of climate. When, by chance, they 
 obtain a true specimen of the Arabian, they expect, to borrow their own ex- 
 pression, that a number of inferior ones will "go down as broth to him" — that 
 is, sell because of him. The spirit of speculation which is born in the Arab 
 race gains in energy by not having too many outlets. Israel, we know, while 
 forbidden to "lend upon usury" to a "brother," was permitted to do so "unto 
 a foreio-ner." ^ But the Arab lawgiver condemned, and cursed, the " eating 
 of usury," without making any reservation or distinction.-^ The consequence is, 
 
 1 We lately wintered in Bombay. In five or six 
 months, about 3000 horses were received from the 
 ports on the Persian Gulf. Out of that number, stud- 
 horses were selected for the whole of India ; and for 
 Queensland, Germany, the United States of America, 
 
 and other countries. Every day witnessed the diffusion 
 of horses ; and when the season closed, the unsold 
 residue was inconsiderable. 
 
 ^Deuteronomy xxiii. ig, 20. 
 
 2 Al Kur-an : Su-ras ii. et iii. 
 
300 CONCL US ION. 
 
 that ever)^ true Arab who would increase his store is compelled to do so either 
 by his personal labour or through the direct agency of a partner or a servant. 
 From hearing a jam-baz talk, one would think that every trip which he performed 
 brought him the nearer to beggary. Horse-flesh, he says, is a very mother of 
 teeth as merchandise — that is, "eats its head off." Nevertheless, thousands of 
 Arabs thrive by it, and add house to house, wife to wife, and progeny to pro- 
 geny. No one can pass through Bombay without remarking, in its motley tide 
 of nationalities, the yearly influx of Arab horse-dealers. The long cloaks and 
 particoloured head - dresses of these people are characteristically Arab ; but it 
 is the acme of absurdity to imagine that they are of the Bedouin. Each man 
 retains the charge of his horses as long as they stand unsold. About half-a- 
 dozen commission-stables divide the business among them. The keeping of one 
 of these repositories is a safe and profitable speculation, in order to embark in 
 which it is only necessary to acquire a piece of ground, put up a few sheds, and 
 engage a book-keeper. Every importer feeds his own horses, and if he have 
 enough of English or Hindustani, deals more or less directly with buyers. The 
 owner of the place is generally a native of India. Our countrymen do not ap- 
 pear to have much inclination for this essentially oriental form of horse traffic. At 
 every deal, a fixed fee from the purchaser, and an equal sum from the vendor, 
 pass into the stable-keeper's pocket, by way of rent, commission, and all other 
 charges. 
 
 The foregoing observations are meant to introduce the picture which is here 
 exhibited of an Arab horse-mart. The Indian elements of the tableau may be dis- 
 missed without further remark. For us the interest centres in the kerchiefed fieures 
 round whom is the air of the Semite world. It is not to be supposed that all these 
 Arab horse-dealers belong to the same category. Those of them whose homes are 
 in Najd form one group ; which, however, is composed of diverse members, from the 
 well-to-do merchant, down to the black slaves of Muhammad ibnu 'r Ra-shid. The 
 men from El I'rak are too mixed for description ; and their buying-grounds extend 
 from Zu-bair and Bussorah, by Suku 'sh Shu-yukh, Hilla, Baghdad, Der, and even 
 Tadmur, to Aleppo and Damascus ; or otherwise, by Kar-kuk and the Persian 
 frontier to Mosul and Urfa. And last, but not least, there is the great company 
 settled in Ku-wait, the members of which pride themselves, not without justice, 
 on their Arab exclusiveness, and on bringing round only Arab horses. It should 
 not be imagined that all this army, when absent from India, disperses itself over 
 the Arabian deserts in search of horses. Here, as elsewhere, the principle of the 
 division of labour comes into action. There are numerous thin fellows of small 
 capital who travel from camp to camp of the Bedouin, but such men are slow to 
 assume the role of exporters. Either the sight of the sea at Bussorah, or dread of the 
 
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OF BUYING ARABIANS WHICH HAVE BEEN EXPORTED. 301 
 
 expenses, inclines them to transfer their purchases en bloc to one of the established 
 merchants. Many of the latter are fat men and Hajjis, who prefer the coffee-house 
 bench to the shi-ddd, or camel-saddle. When they return to their homes in summer, 
 after two sea-voyages and many months of angling for purchasers in the Bombay 
 stables, they like to take life quietly. Day after day they may be seen seated in some 
 convenient market-place, where every horse that is brought into the town will pass 
 before them. They thoroughlj^ understand that a horse when well bought is already 
 half sold, and the one point which they keep before them in making their selections 
 is the point oi profit. The more enterprising of their number will give a hundred 
 liras for a colt which appears likely to bring twice that sum in the land of promise, 
 India; but the members of the sure and safe division prefer to buy half-a-dozen 
 horses with the same money. Freight from Bussorah to Bombay is about _^3 a 
 horse ; and the cost of keep in the commission-stables seldom falls short of ^2 a 
 head per mensem. According to the jam-bazes' creed, Allah never made a horse 
 without making a man to buy him ; and he who has fed an unsaleable animal for a 
 twelvemonth, still retains his faith that the appointed day when he shall be sold will 
 come round. Nevertheless, a colt must be very superior, in order to fetch even 
 ^100 in Bombay, unless his owner be one of those whose recommendations are 
 implicitly believed in throughout a wide connection. Many a good horse, after 
 standing for a long time at some such price, is sold for half the sum. Others are put 
 back time after time by veterinary surgeons ; while others die. With the risks and 
 expenses thus certain, and the prizes not too many, there is little wonder that 
 the jam-bS.zes are cautious buyers. If the small prices at which they frequently 
 pick up good horses are surprising, the readiness of some of them to take the 
 merest castaways is equally so. Thus we lately sold to a Baghdad dealer for about 
 £2, under a guarantee that he should be taken out of the country, a fine upstanding 
 Arab, which was twelve years old, a gelding, and broken down beyond the hope of 
 recovery or concealment. His was a case for the merciful bullet, but oriental public 
 opinion is strongly opposed to such dismissals ; and besides, he was the property of 
 Government, and a rule required that a price should be brought to book for him. 
 When the honest Sai-yid who bought him was gently rallied on the copiousness of 
 language which it would be necessary for him to use in Bombay in order to make 
 the rounded leg pass for the result of an accident, he replied, with a face which 
 Gammon might have copied, that although on many subjects a lie might be advis- 
 able, only a reprobate would utter one about a horse ! 
 
 We come back, however, to the illustration. A glance will show how superior 
 are the facilities for having a look round which the Arab horse-mart in Bombay 
 presents. The scene is an open-air one, and the Eastern sun or sky illuminates it. 
 There are no closed doors or dark places ; one may ramble for hours among the 
 
302 CONCLUSION. 
 
 rows of horses ; and at the sUghtest signal an Indian groom will lead out any animal 
 for inspection. Riding-boys are in waiting to trot, canter, and gallop ; and in most 
 cases the buj^er will be permitted, before concluding the bargain, to mount his 
 selection and test him. On the other hand, unfavourable circumstances are not 
 wantino-. One fact of this kind soon confronts the new-comer, and that is, the 
 number of brokers, so to call them, who are constantly waiting on the market. 
 Some of the best judges of Arab horses that we have ever known have belonged 
 to this mixed company of Persians, Arabs, Parsis, Indians, and others. These 
 people are not infallible ; but the ring which they form is a recognised difficulty 
 in the way of the casual buyer. It is true that any one who pleases may obtain 
 their services ; but he who does so without possessing an adequate stock of experi- 
 ence on his own part, is sure to rue it. 
 
 Nobody who would undertake to buy the exported Arabian for stud purposes 
 is likely to require assistance from us in his enterprise. There are, however, two 
 other classes of purchasers to whom a few hints may prove acceptable — those who 
 only desire a good Arab for common use, and those whose affections are bound 
 up in the contests of the turf 
 
 We shall first speak — 
 
 OF BUYING ARABIANS FOR ORDINARY PURPOSES IN THE BOMBAY STABLES. 
 
 Every one desirous of possessing an Arabian should take care that he does not 
 choose a horse which is not an Arabian. In "famous London town" one may buy 
 the " smallest toy-terrier in the world"; and the pigmy, when carried home and set 
 down, may surprise its new owner by turning out to be a rat, and running up the 
 bell-rope. In the East, the union of art with nature has not yet been perfected to 
 the same extent. When an Arab dealer leads out a horse, we can at least feel 
 certain that it is not a disguised camel. This is good ; but it stops short of assuring 
 us that the steed is an Arabian. The Bombay stables generally contain many 
 so-called Arabs which have never seen the sea, except perhaps in transit from one 
 Indian port to another. Some of these may be from Sindh, and others from Hirat 
 or Cabul. When Amir Sher A'li ruled Afghanistan, he received as presents from 
 H.H. Agha Khan of Bombay and others a goodly number of first-class Arabians. 
 In the Afghan war we saw many horses and ponies which had been sired by these ; 
 and the best of them might have been ticketed as Arabs, not only at Islington but 
 at Poona. A supposed Arab Galloway which twenty years ago shone on the turf 
 in Western India, was ascertained to be what several of his "points" suggested, the 
 produce of one of the thoroughbred English stallions of the Government stud depart- 
 ment in the Bombay Presidency. Many years ago, a young officer fresh from Eton 
 
OF BUYING ARABIANS WHICH HA VE BEEN EXPORTED. 303 
 
 bought in Bombay, as an Arab, a thoroughbred AustraHan, which after a ten or 
 twelve years' career on the Madras turf had been artistically " bishopped." ^ There 
 is, however, a certain something in the look of every horse of full Arabian lineage 
 and nurture which it is next to impossible to mistake. 
 
 It is well known what a sealed volume the horse is to most men. Nobody 
 can see more in him than that which the eye from previous education possesses 
 the power of seeing. Therefore, till one become familiarised with the " points " of 
 Arabian horses, it is highly necessary, before entering the Bombay commission- 
 stables, to seek the assistance of an adept who is not a dealer, but a trusty friend 
 and an honest gentleman. Moreover, in the East the law of warranty is still 
 uncertain ; and the precaution of obtaining a veterinary surgeon's report on a 
 horse before his price is paid should never be omitted. A veterinary surgeon 
 who is also a horse-dealer had better be regarded by the public strictly in the 
 latter character. Honest Speed's maxim, " If you love her, you cannot see her," 
 is frequently illustrated in the Bombay horse-mart. He who buys a colt merely 
 because he is smitten by bis fine coat and manners, will probably repent it. As 
 long as he keeps him chiefly to be fed, and groomed, and looked at, he will more 
 and more admire him ; but the proof is in actual trial. The hint which Horace 
 gives to horse-buyers will be remembered — namely, to throw a rug over the 
 intended purchase, so that the eye may not be drawn off defective legs by a hand- 
 some head and topping. Without presuming to enter a protest against a practice 
 which boasts such high sanction, we cannot help recalling to mind that we owe to it 
 a distinctly unkind cut from Fortune. In 1862, we had bought a large grey colt, 
 for a moderate price, on the very day of his landing in Bombay from Arabia. In 
 taking him to our place of abode, we sent him, during a break in the railway journey, 
 to a certain forge ; and on going there soon afterwards, we found him under the 
 critical eye of one of the most eminent professional judges of horses then in India. 
 The hocks were the suspected parts ; and when the Horatian test was applied, the 
 hind-legs from the gaskins downward certainly presented a mean appearance. Our 
 mentor then turned prophet, and assured us that the hocks would not stand much 
 galloping. Under this opinion the colt was returned to his importer; and after a 
 great career on the turf as Jar-ham, finished by winning, when about twenty years 
 old, the principal hog-hunters' stakes of Northern India. One experience of this 
 kind is sufficient. No more covering up of horses for us when they are being 
 
 ^ Some of our readers may never have heard of 
 the operation of " bishopping," which is called after a 
 
 coloured black by means of a hot iron. Animals 
 which have been thus treated are palmed off on the 
 
 knave of the name of Bishop. In horses of from eight inexperienced as six or seven. The Bedouin are guilt- 
 
 to twelve years' old, a small cavity is scooped in the less of all such practices ; but not so the Syrian, 
 
 wearing surface of two or more of the teeth, and 1 I'raki, and Persian jam-bizes. 
 
304 CONCLUSION. 
 
 inspected. It is higlily necessary to observe not only the several parts, but the 
 proportion which all the parts bear to one another. To sum up : a well-bred horse, 
 such as good judges would approve of if he were not an Arab, is the sort to look 
 for. He must be sound, and not one which other people have ridden to a stump. 
 It is useless for a 12-stone man to buy a horse which can never be master of 
 more than 10 stone. Ait. reste, if the fore-legs are straight, the feet of the proper 
 form, and the action bold and free, he will not be a bad one. Plenty of horses of 
 this description are to be found. In the East it is the good judges of horses who 
 are scarce, and not the sfood horses. 
 
 Let us next survey the more difficult subject — 
 
 OF BUYING ARABIANS FOR THE TURF IN THE BOMBAY STABLES. 
 
 Few pastimes prove more attractive to Englishmen in India than the training 
 of Arabs. For a century and a half, the black coat and the red, the bench and the 
 bar, the commercial establishment and the editor's sanctum, have here found common 
 ground. Some one has said of children that they are " very certain cares and very 
 uncertain pleasures"; and it must be admitted that this is equally true of horses in 
 training, though perhaps less so in the case of Arabs than of other breeds. But in 
 spite of philosophers, the owner of a good horse loves the excitement of matching him 
 against another. Racing in India has undergone great changes in the last twenty 
 years. The railways have produced an unfavourable effect on the smaller meetings, 
 in which, formerly, local animals were the chief competitors. They have also 
 stopped the supplies of Arabs which the travelling dealers used to keep in circula- 
 tion. Bombay is now the only place in India where fresh Arabs are to be bought, 
 except casually ; and racing draAvs more and more to certain centres. It is also 
 said that the number of those who like to see a orood race for its own sake is de- 
 creasing. The large sum of more than Rs. 90,000 of added money, exclusive of 
 numerous valuable trophies, which is advertised in the programme of the Calcutta 
 Races for 1891-92,^ certainly looks like business. But we have never heard of any 
 one who made a fortune, whether by a cotip or gradually, on the turf in India. Even 
 at Calcutta, the betting-ring is cast in a different mould from that of Epsom. The 
 steamer companies now take out annually a small flight of book-makers ; but there 
 are no welshers, and the ring-men are more of the rook kind than the vulture. 
 The real beak-whetters do not drop down on a country where, for them at least, 
 there is less of flesh than feathers. Men of high position among the native 
 
 1 The Rs. 90,000 (equal, at the exchange of the day, I of racing, including two days' steeplechasing. 
 to about £7000 sterling) is spread over eight days I 
 
OF BUYING ARABIANS WHICH HAVE BEEN EXPORTED. 305 
 
 Indians do not gamble away their patrimonies. Englislimen who have ancestral 
 homes to mortgage, and who are ready to risk them on a horse and jockey, have no 
 occasion to cross the sea in order to do so. But, passing from these painful features, 
 every one who pursues a manly sport loves to excel in it ; and this leads us to draw 
 attention to the difficulty which our countrymen in India experience in obtaining un- 
 tried Arabs such as will not discredit them when brought to the starting-post. In 
 spite of the circumstance that the common run of the jam-bazes' horses are three years 
 old and upwards, he who essays to pick a racer from among them is as likely to suffer 
 disappointment as the purchaser of yearlings is in England. Or rather, he is more 
 likely to do so. Every colt and filly that steps into the sale-ring at Doncaster or 
 Newmarket possesses at least an undeniable pedigree. The collections of the Arab 
 dealers, on the contrary, always contain a large number of animals which, as far as 
 racing is concerned, might as well be mules. There are many persons who, through 
 attentive study, have more or less acquired the power of recognising, by the eye 
 alone, in the Bombay stables, that this colt from his breeding, build, and action, 
 may prove a race-horse, and that it is impossible for that other colt to do so. Of 
 course this is a step, and an important step ; but nothing short of actual trial can 
 convert the may into a certainty. Even the specialised racing-stock of England 
 yields, according to Admiral Rous's calculation, only about three remarkable runners 
 out of two thousand. From one and the same mare, a Bay Middleton will one 
 year get a Flying Dutchman, and another year a mediocrity like Vanderdecken. 
 That is to say, many of the best-bred and best-looking horses are foaled without 
 the gift of speed ; and no time or training can impart what Nature has denied. 
 Every man who buys young horses experiences the truth of this. 
 
 " Oft expectation fails, and most oft there 
 Where most it promises ; and oft it hits 
 Wliere hope is coldest, and despair most sits." ^ 
 
 Our present argument does not depend on mere chance occurrences ; and we 
 shall not lay stress on cases in which the best Arab horse of the season has been 
 thrust by fortune on a novice. Sa'-dt says that Sometimes a good result does 
 not proceed from the clear-sighted expert ; and sometimes the ignorant boy hits the 
 mark with an arrozu by mistake? Accordingly, a youth whose self-assurance pushes 
 him through thick places, as his budding horns do the billy-goat, may step off a 
 troopship, walk into a dealer's yard, and purchase the conquering hero of the coming 
 season. Many years ago, an artillery subaltern, fired with a "noble rage" to play 
 the great game, went to Bombay to buy a couple of Arabs. Of the two which he 
 selected, one was said to be a scion of the " Ishmaelite," or pre-Ishmaelite, strain 
 
 1 "All's Well that ends Well," Act ii. sc. i. | - " Gul-istan." 
 
 2 Q 
 
306 CONCLUSION. 
 
 called Ba-ndtu V a-zvaj, or Da^ighters of the Defoinned ; and several of the jam- 
 bizes declared that they knew his foster-camel ! The other was merely taken along 
 with him, like the cat with the dromedary in the Arabian tale. The result was, that 
 the highly esteemed one never earned a feed of corn ; while his stable companion, 
 after having been in vain offered for sale at a small price, made a great turf record 
 as Red Hazard. Instances of this kind, if they stood alone, would hardly be worth 
 citing ; for there is no branch of sport or business in which what are called " flukes " 
 do not happen. It will better serve to illustrate our immediate subject if we here 
 adduce a few typical cases, in which the most experienced judges of Arab horses 
 have been concerned. 
 
 The two Arabs, Minuet and Child of the Islands, still represent the Castor and 
 Pollux of Anglo-Indian racing story. At all weights not exceeding 9 st. 7 lb. the 
 "terrible Child" was indisputably the best Arab which had appeared up to that 
 date on the Indian turf. Lieut.-Col. Bower ^ was the first purchaser of those two 
 horses after their arrival in India ; and the following is his description of the circum- 
 stances in which they became his property : — 
 
 "In 1845 an emergent indent from the Government of India on Madras for six hundred 
 horses to replace vacancies in the Army on the Sutlej, cleared the dealers' lots of everything 
 fit for a trooper, and saved those poor people from bankruptcy ; but there was no sale for 
 their high-priced cattle, and it was with the market in that disordered state that I offered four- 
 teen hundred rupees for a sturdy three-year-old, whom, from his smooth easy style of moving, 
 I named Minuet. 
 
 " In another lot there stood a very blood-like colt of the same age, but with such peculiar 
 action that several good judges doubted his soundness, and indeed a veterinary surgeon 
 thought him weak in the loins. I offered one thousand rupees for the cripple, for better or for 
 worse ! My offer was then refused, but, after a lapse of three months, the dealer came to me 
 and said he had sold all his horses except the colt I had offered for, and as nobody would buy 
 him, he would gladly take whatever I pleased to give him, as he was anxious to get rid of 
 the animal, that he might return to Bombay. My answer was that I would adhere to my 
 original offer of a thousand rupees, which was at last accepted ; and as I happened to be 
 reading Mrs Norton's pretty little poem at the time the colt arrived, I named him The Child 
 of the Islands." 2 
 
 Few Europeans have enjoyed better opportunities of becoming judges of the 
 Arabian horse than the late Dr Campbell of Mysore, the owner of Greyleg.^ In 
 1856 or 1857 he received, as one of a lot, from A'bdu '1 Wah-hab of Bombay, a rich 
 bay colt, about 14 hands and i inch at the withers, which, the longer he looked at him, 
 the less he liked. He considered the head plain, the neck thick, and the shoulder 
 straight, and was inclined to cast him. When A'bdu '1 Wah-hab heard of this, he 
 wrote to the doctor asking him for his sake to put the colt in training. After a few 
 
 1 V. ante, p. 198 et f.n. 3. 
 
 2 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 26, pp. \ii et ii'^ 
 
 3 V. ante, pp. 254-256. 
 
OF BUYING ARABIANS WHICH HA VE BEEN EXPORTED. 
 
 307 
 
 gallops, the denounced one, in a trial, covered a mile in i minute and 54 seconds. 
 There was no longer any talk of the " bull neck " and " Roman nose," but of the 
 "strong loin and quarter," "good eyes," "brave look," and "easy creeping style of 
 action." ^ A present of .^500 was sent to the old dealer, in reward for his advice ; 
 and in due time all India heard of the performances of Copenhagen.- 
 
 Another brilliant Arab which at first had few admirers was Honeysuckle. 
 For two years people looked upon the little grey as " mean in his hind-quarters," 
 and "not a taking goer to the eye, in any of his paces." When he was beaten in 
 the Calcutta Derby of 1846-47, the race-goers never expected to see him again. It 
 is, however, interesting to notice that, while such was the general opinion, an old 
 Arab horse-dealer, by name Shekh Ib-ra-him, protested against it like a prophet. 
 On hearing his favourite disparaged, the veteran would say, " Very well, gentlemen, 
 you will see what a horse he will prove ; " and when, in the course of a year or two, 
 Honeysuckle became the pride of Indian racing circles, there never was a fairer " I 
 told you so " than the Shekh's. 
 
 Some may infer from the two last-cited cases that the Arab dealers are better 
 judges of their merchandise than their European customers are ; but the facts 
 scarcely warrant so sweeping a conclusion. Both A'bdu '1 Wah-hab and Shekh 
 Ib-ra-him were, in their way, celebrities. After making a little money, they had, 
 more or less, settled down — the former in Bombay and the latter in Calcutta. 
 They received their horses from agents, or relations, in Arabia. They did not 
 confine themselves to dealing, but added racing to it. Their natural faith m blood 
 doubtless prevented them from too lightly condemning those horses which they 
 knew to be of high lineage. But for once that this system proves advan- 
 tageous to the Oriental, it twenty times leads him to persevere with worthless 
 animals. The Arab dealers, when they engage in racing, certainly make as 
 many misses as hits. Sportsmen who have been in India may remember the 
 late A'bdu 'r Rah-man and Esau bin Curtas,^ the former of whom, by birth a 
 townsman of Najd, was for many years quite at the top of the Arab horse- 
 trade in Bombay. Both these men were devoted to racing, and trained and 
 tried as many as possible of the inmates of their several stables before letting 
 other people have them. Their natural wits were sharpened by intercourse with 
 Europeans ; and, apart from their too fixed ideas about blood, they really were un- 
 commonly good judges. And yet, if they were still living, they would have much 
 to confess on the side of the present argument. The best racing Arab that A'bdu 
 'r Rah-man ever owned was Young Revenge ; and what did he do with him 1 
 
 1 Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 38, vol. iii. pp. 13-24. 
 ^ V. ante, p. 20S. 
 
 V. ante, pp. 228, 248, 270. 
 
3o8 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Why, despatched him, untried, to a military ofificer in a distant cantonment, who, 
 when he saw him, returned him ! Similarly, Esau bin Curtas, a few years ago, 
 allowed another uncut diamond to escape him — in this case for ever. One day 
 there was offered to him at Bussorah a rough colt, which an Arab had brought in 
 from the Mun-ta-fik. Esau bought him cheap, for he was but a pony, and sent him 
 to Bombay. He stood there for several months, with all the wise men looking him 
 over and refusing him, till at last a subaltern bought him for about £']o. Not to be 
 tedious, behold, as the hero of our story. Blitz, twice the winner of the richest turf 
 prize in Northern India, the Civil Service Cup, for ponies ! He all but won the 
 same race a third time, and Avas only just beaten for it by the English pony Mike, 
 to whom he gave 2 stone 8 lb. of weight. After the latter performance Blitz 
 changed ownership for the substantial equivalent of Rs. 20,000. Facts like these are 
 greatly dwelt on by the jam-bazes. It stands to reason that if these people knew 
 the merits of all their horses, nobody would ever get a Young Revenge or a Blitz 
 from them. With little or no book-learning, they possess a fine natural eloquence, 
 which many of their number have acquired the power of expressing in persuasive 
 English. It is a part of their business to uphold the idea that every fresh colt in 
 their possession may be a winning ticket in the lottery of the turf. In leading 
 out, for instance, a muleteer's baggage-pony, if any one should call him " coarse," they 
 have the answer ready that Copenhagen was " fiddle-headed," or that some other 
 distinguished runner was either bought out of a buggy, or was pronounced by the 
 best judges, before his real quality was ascertained, only fit to carry boxes. It is all 
 very well for Arab horse-dealers thus to build castles on the sandy foundation of 
 sheer accident ; but when an Englishman does so, it is a symptom that his power 
 of calculating chances has become impaired. 
 
 The foregoing remarks, it will be observed, apply to the selection oi fresh, that 
 is, newly imported, Arabians. There is a charm in unstrung pearls which appeals 
 to every one ; and in the olden time in India, many sportsmen disdained to buy 
 horses that had carried other men's colours. To race on these terms implies a 
 long purse and an open hand — two things which are not always conjoined. It 
 is said that barbers, when they want two or three razors for use, purchase a 
 score, and after trying them, keep the superior ones and sell the rest at cost 
 price. Sportsmen in India who aim at winning the maiden Arab races, adopt 
 more or less the same practice ; but their discarded horses are not so easily 
 sold at cost price as razors are. A member of the Melbourne turf, who, up 
 to about ten years ago, devoted half his time to India, grew so tired of year 
 after year selecting fresh Arabs which won no races, that he would buy no 
 more except after a trial against a stop-watch. In the days when the Arab 
 
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OF BUYING ARABIANS WHICH HAVE BEEN EXPORTED. 309. 
 
 horses were brought to Bombay in sailing-vessels, and took several months 
 to recover their strength after the voyage, this practice could not be carried 
 to any great extent ; but the jam-bazes of the present time readily lend them- 
 selves to it. Every morning they take out their raw colts, which ought to 
 be at walking exercise, and gallop them. When a purchaser comes forward, 
 they offer to try one or more of them for a mile, or even a mile and a half 
 A large price is mutually agreed on beforehand, subject to the chronometer's 
 verdict, and many a deal is thus effected. In a purely business aspect, this 
 arrangement may possess advantages ; but it is unfair to the horses, and it savours 
 more of the "sporting man" than of the sportsman. Side by side with the ad- 
 mitted difficulty of choosing, apart from trial, Arabs which will show racing form, 
 the fact should be kept in view that many of our countrymen and others have 
 learned to do so — not of course invariably, or without risk of error, but in a higher 
 degree than it is possible to ascribe to mere " luck " or accident. 
 
 Through the kindness of a well-known sportsman. Major Elliot of the ist Bom- 
 bay Lancers, we are enabled to introduce here a couple of portraits which bear 
 witness to the correctness of the foregoing statement. The fame of Euclid and 
 Lanercost is still fresh. The former is now at stud in Hungary, and the latter is in 
 the possession of that prince of straight riders, H.H. the Maharajah of Dhole- 
 pore,- in Central India. Major Elliot bought both colts in two successive seasons, 
 immediately after they had been brought to Bombay from Ku - wait by their 
 importer, Ha-san bin Badr. The prices which he paid for them were, Rs. 1200 
 for Euclid, and Rs. 1000 for Lanercost. At that time they were but raw colts, and 
 each in his own year won, as a three-year-old, a severe two-mile race. While truly 
 forming a. par nobile fratrum, they are not, so far as is known, related to one another. 
 Hasan had no other history to give of them than that he had obtained them from 
 the Aeniza. He and many others of his class are worthy men, and good judges 
 of horses ; but it is absurd to suppose that they can foretell the racing quali- 
 fications of an untried colt. Questions of this kind should always be addressed 
 through the eye to the animal itself, and not through the tongue to its importer. 
 
 For the sportsman who possesses neither a large bank balance nor twenty 
 years of experience, there is a way in which the taste for training and running 
 Arabs may be gratified without the risks being formidable ; and that is, by leaving 
 on one side the " maiden," or weigh t-for-age, races, and beginning with a proved 
 cup-horse. He who is still in his novitiate may find it a surer plan to give Rs. 
 3000, or even more, for one Arab which has fought his way to fame, without 
 being " done to a turn," as the phrase is, in the process, than to expend an equal 
 sum in the purchase of untried colts. The author can here speak from experience. 
 When he was a beginner, and stationed at Hyderabad, a purse of ;^i5o was 
 
3IO CONCLUSION. 
 
 presented by H.H. Agha Khan, to be run for at the local meeting. The Agha 
 sent several of his best Arabs to contend for this and the other prizes ; and 
 along with them, a number of castaways to be sold. One of the latter — a good 
 old plater — became ours at an easy price. Two months afterwards he won for 
 us his late owner's gift-money, beating the champion horse of the Agha's stable ! 
 It may be said that this is mere "leather-plating"; but there is nothing deroga- 
 tory in a man playing in a humble way, when his means do not permit him to 
 do more. Those who have their place "on the mountain-tops of existence," whose 
 wealth is ample, and who consider it a part of their proper state to maintain a 
 racing stud, may care little about financial considerations. But speaking of 
 ordinary gentlemen, they cannot, on the one hand, follow this amusement on a 
 scale which necessitates their winning money, without imminent risk of assuming 
 the characteristics of a different class of people altogether ; while, on the other 
 hand, it is only natural for them to appreciate their winnings, were it but as proofs 
 of good judgment, and, above all, of that perfect self-command, apart from which 
 the harmless stretch of green turf is apt to prove the broad road to ruin. The 
 pace can gradually be increased. But even when it is contemplated to enter 
 for the valuable prizes reserved in Western India for maiden Arabs, one may 
 choose between buying the raw material from the importers, and looking out 
 for one or two horses which, although they have failed, so far, to secure a 
 winning number, have run well in good company. The advantage of the 
 latter plan is, that it follows public form — in horses, as in men, the soundest 
 test of merit. Some may say that it proceeds on the idea of one man being 
 able to do that which others have failed to do. Admittedly this objection 
 would carry weight in England. A colt which one of our great trainers has 
 discarded is not very likely to turn out well in other hands. But the case 
 is different in India. It is more than half a century since the art of training 
 took there a great start in advance, and it has been kept well abreast of modern 
 changes. Nevertheless, it is very unequal. In most fields there will be one or 
 two candidates as well prepared for the contest as if Mr Day were answerable 
 for them, and there will be others which are less so. Hence, in India, con- 
 dition first, and riding second, win between them more races, perhaps, than in- 
 trinsic form does. Far more frequently than in England, a Stockwell may there 
 be seen finishing behind a Daniel O'Rourke, as in our 1852 Derby. No doubt, 
 this increases the opportunities of making what are termed "lucky" purchases of 
 beaten horses — though the luck consists in one's having the power of combining 
 circumstances, and seeing behind mere appearances. It is, however, most 
 necessary to remember that there are Arabs which, the longer that they are 
 persevered with, grow the slower ; as well as others which, for want of finish- 
 
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OF BUYING ARABIANS WHICH HAVE BEEN EXPORTED. 311 
 
 ino- powers, or perhaps through fear of punishment, cannot, or will not, run up 
 into the first place. A horse that is always finishing second is anything but a 
 blessing in disguise. 
 
 We shall conclude this section with a reference to certain indications, to be 
 seen in exported Arabians, in which there is guidance for those who understand 
 them ; while others either pass them over or invest them with absurd meanings. 
 
 Occasionally, then, there will be a gelding in a lot of exports. It is impossible 
 to make this condition support an inference in regard to the animal's history. 
 First, caution is necessary before accepting it as certain that he is a fresh arrival, and 
 not an old buggy-horse, for which a jam-biz has consented to stand sponsor ! Such 
 things happen. But perhaps he is a rejection from the establishment of a European 
 Consul in El I'rak or Syria; and if so, he may be anything. Or, if his back is 
 scarred from the withers to the croup, and if he is a clean-bred one, he may have 
 been carrying the iron hobbles {ka-did), and other gear, of a party of horse-dealers, 
 who- have altered him to admit of his being turned out to feed when they halted. 
 In that case he is probably a " has-been." Racing form is not promoted by a course 
 of drudgery and load-carrying, any more than, in men, the labours of a heavy 
 porter tend to make a Deerfoot. Nevertheless, a horse of his description may 
 prove a treasure to those who, like Chaucer's knight, would have a nag " good, 
 albeit not gay"; for work has hardened him, and, if not too old, he will improve. 
 Or, lastly, the unsexed one may have come from the desert. A ghaz-u rider may 
 have taken him in foray, and treated him thus, either because unable to ascertain 
 his pedigree, or because he has lost his mare and would mount himself in this 
 manner. Such a history, supposing it to be well established, is satisfactory ; but 
 to agree with it, the back must not be scarred all over, like a mule's. The 
 whitening of the hair must follow, more or less, the outline of the Bedouin saddle. 
 A gelding is easier to train than a horse, and is less apt to jump about and injure 
 his legs at walking exercise. 
 
 Enough has been said in another place of the marks of firing. The dealers 
 encourage the notion that such are distinctive of the Bedouin horses ; but their talk 
 rests upon air. One of the secrets of the Arab and Persian muleteers is to use mare 
 mules which will follow their owner's ridingf-horse. The caravaner's hack is gen- 
 erally a good one. When the object is to earn the day's hire easily, he is loaded 
 up with chopped straw or barley, and allowed to fall behind. No amount of driv- 
 ing will then make the she-mules in front of him step out. But when the muleteer 
 really desires to get over the ground, he mounts his hack and pushes on ahead. 
 The caravan, or kd-fi-la, will then flit across the desert, almost like a ghaz-u. Not- 
 withstanding the mule's having but a jack's leg from the knee down, we have never 
 
312 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 seen one with a splint. At other points, also, this animal either escapes unsound- 
 nesses which afflict the horse, or, owing to his lower sensibility, takes them more 
 lio-htly. But when a horse is set to lead a string of mules, he soon requires the 
 firing-iron. Hence, even apart from questions of soundness, he who buys in India 
 or Egypt a horse which has been fired is, so far as this sign goes, as likely to have 
 chosen a Persian ka-dish as an Arabian. 
 
 Sometimes the strings of the jam-bazes contain full-mouthed horses on which 
 there is no scar or blemish. Such may be very nice young gentlemen, but the 
 traces of a public school, so to speak, are wanting in them. When we find 
 them, at the same time, light below the knee, and happiest when their heads are 
 turned homeward, we need not wonder. 
 
 Nine Arab horses out of ten will, at the very least, show a couple of scars at 
 the roots of the ears. Our countrymen value these marks ; and we daresay that 
 the jam-b^zes make them when they chance to be absent. But nearly all Arab, 
 Kurdi, and Persian horses have them. They indicate no more than that a horse is 
 not English, or Australian, or Indian. One of the points which Eastern horsemen 
 cannot be brought to admire in European horses is the excessive spread of the 
 ears. When the milk-selling Arabs of El I'rak are pasturing their sheep round 
 Baghdad in spring, the donkey-foals may be seen running about with their long 
 ears drawn together, both at the roots and tips, with pack-thread stitches, to give 
 them the desired set. Many of the Bedouin nations of the Euphrates apply the 
 same treatment to the roots at least, if not also to the tips, of the ears in newly 
 dropped colts and fillies.^ Nevertheless, our Aleppo colleague informs us that 
 marked ears are comparatively rare in the best desert horses of the upper Euphrates ; 
 and that, when they occur, they merely signify that the parts have been slightly 
 cauterised in early colthood as a cure for a cold in the head, or for strangles. 
 
 The fact should be remembered that every vendor of an unknown Arabian will, 
 if possible, represent him as coming from the desert. In markets outside of Arabia 
 it is comparatively easy to put forward this description. In proof of it, some casual 
 blemish will be paraded as a spear-wound. Even the collar-marks on the shoulders 
 of a ka-dlsh fresh from the tram-cars which run between Baghdad and Ka-dhi-main 
 are occasionally made the basis of a romantic story. In the same way, when little 
 lines like lancet marks have been produced on the flanks of the commonest hack by 
 the sharp corners of the townsman's stirrup, they are apt to be described as traces of 
 spurring in Al ghaz-u ! 
 
 1 Burckhardt says, in Notes on the Bedouin and 
 Wahabys, vol. i. p. 209 : " Immediately after the birth 
 of a colt, the Arabs tie its ears together over its head 
 with a thread, that they may assume a fine pointed 
 
 direction ; at the same time they press the tail of the 
 colt upwards, and take other measures whereby it may 
 be carried high." V. ante, p. 251. 
 
OF BUYING ARABIANS WHICH HAVE BEEN EXPORTED. 313 
 
 Another series of skin and hair marks depend on the various modes of tying 
 horses, in countries where hobbling is more in vogue than stabling. In Persia dif- 
 ferent tribes follow different usages in this matter. Marks of tying round both fore- 
 arms, or fore-pasterns, or from a fore to a hind pastern, or from a forearm to a 
 gaskin, suggest localities in which the Arab rash-ma, or riding-halter, is not preva- 
 lent. For the desert Arab invariably ties his mare, and the traveller in Arabia his 
 riding nag, during short halts, by bringing the halter-rope from the head, between 
 the fore-legs, to above the near hock, and knotting it there. In this way raws are 
 established, first across the near gaskin, and then perhaps across the off one also— 
 for the latter takes its turn of the knot when its fellow is too much cut to bear it. 
 The more or less permanent scar which is thus caused is termed by the Arabs 
 a shgdr. The extraordinary thing is, that these traces above one or both hocks, 
 though merely due to a particular mode of tying, are regarded in India as cabalistic 
 signs of turf promise! So far back as 1831, they were known in Bombay as "the 
 Fort Adjutant's marks," because a certain officer of the garrison who held that ap- 
 pointment, and who was noted for his power of selecting Arabs which proved winners, 
 attached the highest importance to them ! In the above-mentioned year a local 
 writer, possessed of an inquiring mind, drew attention to this blemish in the pages 
 of the Oriental Sporting Magazine} He scoffed at the idea of a mere rope-mark 
 bearing any significance ; and to make good his point, produced a roll of thirty-eight 
 famous Arab race-horses, nineteen of which had, and nineteen had not, this coat of 
 arms. Some may think that this common-sense criticism must have accomplished 
 the desired object, but the case is otherwise. Although the name " Fort Adjutant's 
 mark" is now forgotten, the mark itself is as highly esteemed as ever. Indeed, 
 it is more so, for the jam - bazes of our day manufacture it. We cannot 
 say how the case is towards Najd ; but in the country of the Tigris, when a 
 horse which does not show these marks of tying has been bought for the Indian 
 market, it is a common practice to bind a strip of fresh intestine (inis-rdn) round 
 one or both gaskins, a little above the hock-joint, so that as it dries it shall cut into 
 the flesh. At the period of the year when the jam-bazes' yards are full, one may 
 see in Baghdad and Mosul rows of horses which are undergoing this villainous 
 piece of preparation. By the time that these animals reach Bombay the wounds 
 are healed, and more or less covered with white hair. The practised eye can 
 generally distinguish between a town-made shgdr and a natural one. But, after all, 
 what does it signify ? Even the shgdr which has been produced by hobbling is 
 more likely to indicate the gendarme's horse than the desert courser ; for the Bedouin, 
 as has been seen, seldom ride their colts. Long ago this mark may have possessed 
 
 ' Op. cit. ill Catalog. No. 36, vol. ii. p. 84. 
 2 R 
 
;i4 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 some slight value, as showing that the bearer had at least not been an idler, 
 it is now chiefly a reflection on the judgment or the sanity of buyers in India. 
 
 But 
 
 Section V. — On the proper Treatment of the exported Arabian. 
 
 In reference to what is termed "naturalisation," there is at least a series of 
 admitted facts to set out with. It is known that certain kinds of animals 
 possess, and that other kinds do not possess, the power of flourishing in new 
 homes. Thus, the horse can increase and multiply, without special protection, in 
 almost every inhabited region of the globe. The common brown rat, which is 
 supposed to be a native of Central Asia, has not only spread to all parts of the 
 world, but proved stronger in many countries than the indigenous species. On the 
 other hand, the yak cannot live to the south of the Himalayas beyond the im- 
 mediate neighbourhood of the snow ; it is extremely difficult to keep European 
 dogs healthy in the plains of India ; snakes, which are so abundant in warm climates, 
 diminish as we go north, and wholly cease at lat. 62°. A totally different question is, 
 whether it is possible for races which are removed to uncongenial climates to grow 
 inured to them. This is still an open subject ; but it is safest to consider that the 
 natural habit, or constitution, can be but slightly, if at all, altered in this direction. 
 Thus, it does not appear that there is any such thing as "acclimatisation" for the 
 unmixed offspring of Europeans in the plains of India. And we know of a family 
 from Hi-rat which settled upwards of sixty years ago in the Madras Presidency, 
 which in the intervening period has obtained wives exclusively from the country of 
 its origin, and which, owing to the number of premature deaths among its members, 
 is now dying out in India. To confine our illustrations to Arab horses, there exists 
 in India a peculiar disease called ka-ma-ri, or loin-ill, which tends to paralyse 
 the hind -quarters.^ This disorder is most prevalent in the province of Bengal, 
 where the climate is as humid as that of Arabia is the opposite. In the hot 
 and rainy months it attacks the Arabian horse in Bengal inevitably, the English 
 horse less surely, the Australian horse but casually, and the native horse rarely. 
 On questions of this nature, artificially protected animals do not supply perfect 
 data ; and the fact that in Bengal proper Arab horses can by no means be saved 
 from ka-ma-rt is therefore all the more telling. When, after a time, a horse 
 hardens in a climate which at first appeared injurious to him, the improvement is 
 
 1 Much has been written in India, and a little in 
 England also, on the subject of ka-ma-}'i, and its 
 usual accompaniment, worm in the eye — e.g.^ in a 
 
 series of papers on " Indian Horse Diseases," which 
 appeared in the Asian Sporting Newspaper, Calcutta, 
 between May and October 1879. 
 
ON THE PROPER TREATMENT OF THE EXPORTED ARABIAN. 315 
 
 probably more connected with his natural growth, and with good stable manage- 
 ment, than with supposed "acclimatisation." 
 
 In regard to the importation of Arabian horses into India, there are two facts 
 which will not be disputed. Owing to the inferiority of its breeds, " England's 
 miracle," as our Indian Empire is styled in Turkish circles, has need of every 
 serviceable foreign remount which can be procured. And India, outside of cer- 
 tain districts, possesses a climate in which the Arabian may live as healthily, and 
 with as little care, as in his native one. In more than thirty years we have lost but 
 five Arabians, three of which would not have come to harm if they had been better 
 cared for.^ In the preceding pages, the facilities which now exist for the transport 
 of Arab horses from Bussorah to India have been noticed. The steam-companies 
 will not ship horses in the season when rough weather is to be expected. Boxes are 
 not thought necessary ; and the horses are ranged as close as they can stand, on 
 both sides of the upper deck. At first they are inclined to be troublesome, especially 
 at feeding and watering times. When the spray dashes against their hind-quarters, 
 it sets some of them a-kicking, so that they hit their hocks against the iron railings 
 of the ship's side. But, on the whole, they are landed in excellent health and spirits. 
 The temptation which this offers to their Arab owners to try them before they have 
 been a month in India has already been glanced at. The annual Bombay race- 
 meeting takes place in February. To encourage the dealers, several prizes for 
 horses landed between that month and the previous September are included in the 
 race programme. At that time of the year, the climate of Bombay is a curious blend 
 of heat and cold.- The nights and mornings are damp and chilly, and by day the 
 temperature mounts to sweating-point. Horses fresh from Najd, and even those 
 from high up the Euphrates, feel this more than horses from El I'rak do. But all 
 imported animals are apt to suffer ; and it is noticed that Arab horses which, after a 
 hurried preparation, win races at Byculla in the season of landing, rarely distinguish 
 themselves afterwards. The proper course with valuable Arabians is to remove 
 them, as soon as possible after they reach India, from the sea-shore districts to a 
 plateau like Mysore or Poona. An open-air, or, at any rate, a very airy billet, 
 will best agree with them there. Necessarily, they must experience a change of 
 
 ^ One fatal case was that alluded to at p. 33, supra, 
 in f.n. 2. A better fence would have kept out the mad 
 dog. Hsemorrhage after castration was the immediate 
 cause of death in another case ; but the 7'eal cause 
 was the employment of an unqualified operator. The 
 third victim of preventible causes was a beautiful little 
 mare from Najd, which, when found to be in foal, and 
 put out of training, was allowed to fill her stomach 
 with the dry harsh grass of a compound at Ahmed- 
 nagar, and died from rupture of the intestine. About 
 
 the same time, and at the same place, a thoroughbred 
 stallion which the Government had just imported from 
 England died in his box of snake-bite. This means 
 that the horse-keepers failed to keep down the rank 
 weeds of the monsoon season in his stable-yard, 
 and that their superiors failed to make them do so. 
 Genuine accidents will certainly happen, but the re- 
 sults of carelessness are not accidents. 
 
 2 Sard-gajiii — i.e., cold-warm — is the expressive 
 Indian descriptive. 
 
316 
 
 CONCL US ION. 
 
 water ; but they should be gradually introduced to grains which are new to them. 
 Barley is the horse-corn of Arabia, and it is cultivated in India. Cooked food and 
 sloppy messes are approved of by many, owing to their filling appearance ; but 
 horses do not relish them, and it is to be assumed that they know what suits them. 
 The value of bran is admitted by all. Every horse should be brought to eat it, 
 both dry and mashed, when he is in health. But saliva is essential to digestion, and 
 this fluid is secreted in the proper quantity only when the grinders are at work 
 on hard dry corn. 
 
 The climate of the British Islands is even more favourable than that of India 
 to the Arabian horse. It prepares for him no special diseases. He can do at 
 least as much work in it as in his own. His natural soundness, hardness, cheer- 
 fulness, and longevity continue to display themselves. The only property which 
 suffers impairment is that of fecundity. How far it is worth while to take a foreign 
 horse to a country so well supplied is a different question. Sentiment apart, it de- 
 pends on the rider's weight, and on his wants as a horseman. The man whose riding 
 is restricted to metalled roads, and to the stony streets of great cities, hardly knows 
 what to do with a galloping hack like the Arabian. The mounted officer who has 
 the prospect of serving in the United Kingdom after his return from Egypt or 
 India will save his purse, and perhaps his neck, if he take home with him his 
 trusty Arab charger. In another place the Arab's qualifications for crossing a 
 country were considered. But after passing from that subject we received a letter 
 from a sportsman in England, an extract from which may prove acceptable. Re- 
 ferring to an Arab horse which he had bought in Bombay, our correspondent thus 
 describes a day's work in Northamptonshire : — 
 
 "Leaving his stable yesterday at 10.30, he carried me nine miles to cover; and we had 
 an hour's run in the morning, and two and a half hours in the afternoon, over a very big 
 country. He carried me all day, with only one fall (not his fault) ; and when we finished, 
 was fresher than many of the second horses. He came home ten miles, arriving at 7. 10 
 P.M., having covered about sixty miles, ate up everything, and seems fairly fresh, indeed 
 quite fresh, to-day — a performance that, I am sure, has never been equalled in the Shires 
 before by a 14.1 horse, carrying nearly, if not quite, twelve stone." 
 
 In our day the transport of Arab horses to England offers no difficulties. 
 In European waters a crib, or horse-box, cannot be dispensed with. The shipping- 
 agents' yards at the several seaports usually contain a collection of boxes which 
 have seen service. These require to be carefully refitted ^ before being again 
 
 1 For one thing, if the inside lining be merely 
 tacked on, the weight of the padding which is put 
 between it and the wood will soon cause the tacks 
 or nails to give. A greater evil is the nailing down 
 of the matting or other material which is laid in the 
 
 box to lessen the jar. Nails in such a situation are 
 sure to work out ; and parts of them will perhaps be 
 found, at the end of the voyage, lodged in the poor 
 animal's unshod and softened hoofs. 
 
ON THE PROPER TREATMENT OF THE EXPORTED ARABIAN. 317 
 
 used ; but for Arab horses they can scarcely be too open.^ Before embarkation, 
 the horse should be made familiar with the structure that is to form his cabin. 
 The last Arab horse which we took to England had so recently left pastoral Arabia, 
 that when he had to be shipped at Bombay he had only been a few times in a 
 stable. When his travelling carriage was shown to him, he stubbornly refused 
 to enter it. We then had it carted to his stable, and set down like a little porch, 
 with both ends open, in front of his loose-box. Still, he would not go into it, 
 although he must have seen his bed and corn awaiting him beyond it. After 
 standing for at least an hour tied to it, with no one near him, he began to hammer 
 it with his fore-feet. Thus he gradually felt his way through it, and never after- 
 wards mistrusted it. The advantage of this was, that during the voyage he 
 could be led out of his box in fine weather, exercised, hand-rubbed, and put back 
 again. There is this to be said in favour of having a horse's travelling -box 
 made movable, that it can then be shifted from one part of the vessel to 
 another to suit changes of wind and climate. As the ship's officers, however, 
 may not always take the trouble to do this, or may even remove the box from a 
 bad site to a worse one, perhaps it is a better plan to arrange that a regular berth 
 shall be knocked up for the animal by the ship's carpenter, in a good situation. 
 Two divisions can then be made, in one of which the horse may be allowed his 
 liberty in favourable weather. As a rule, horses will not lie down and rest on an 
 iron deck as readily as on a wooden one. 
 
 In every foreign country to which the Arabian is carried, the salient features 
 of the method in which he must have been reared in his native land should be 
 remembered. It is absurd to imagine that because he has cost a large sum he 
 ought to be shut up in a grand stable. We are no advocates of over-exposure. It 
 is true that Eastern horses, if well fed, will keep in good condition when picketed on 
 the bare plain, with the sun beating on them by day, and, perhaps, rain or snow 
 at night. Even in these circumstances, any little protection that can be afforded 
 is repaid by the results. The horses which work in the tram-cars of Bombay and 
 Calcutta last the longer, if padded sun-protectors are placed over their polls and 
 back-bones. In camps in India and Afghanistan, it has been found beneficial to 
 line the horses' blankets with cotton cloth, and put them on white side upper- 
 most when the sun is powerful. In cold nights, a slight enough screen of 
 earth or snow between a horse's standing-place and the blast helps to preserve him. 
 Stabling is as essentially a phase of civilisation as house-building is. If any breed 
 of horses requires air and light more than another, it is the Arabian one. Every 
 
 ^ It is unnecessary to roof in the horse-box. Three 
 removable iron hoops, to support a tarpauhn, are far 
 better. A broad canvas shnsr should be huns at niaht 
 
 below the animal's belly, so that he may rest on it, 
 and as a stay in rough weather. 
 
3i8 
 
 CONCL USION. 
 
 stabled horse, when a window is within reach, turns to it as naturally as plants 
 do to the light. Solitary imprisonment in the most palatial loose-box cannot be 
 agreeable to the horse which, in his native land, was never out of sight and sound 
 of his fellows. Every country has its own usages, Avhich are commonly based on 
 good reasons. At all events, the usages are not to be altered, and it is whimsical 
 to attempt to do so. The Arab horse in India does not, as a rule, experience 
 any very startling change in his mode of life — though perhaps he wonders at 
 the amount of grooming which he receives. But when he is taken to Europe, 
 many things must puzzle him. After having, all his days, fed from the ground, 
 or, at the most, from a nose-bag,^ he now has his hay presented to him high up 
 towards the ceiling, as if he were a giraffe. The stable-men and stable-gear are 
 equally novel. The human hand, with its thumb and fingers, its palm, nails, and 
 convenient articulations, forms a perfect tool-chest, and the oriental groom knows 
 how to use it. 2 But, with us, the body-brush and the curry-comb, the sponge, the 
 wisp, and the rubber, not to mention the broom and the pitchfork, are considered 
 indispensable adjuncts. What with flicks from the towel or leather, too much 
 stable language, and too energetic brushing or wisping, the sensitive and glossy- 
 coated Ku-hai-lan is in some danger of being made " vicious." There are stable- 
 men who, even at the risk of having their crowns cracked, delight in seeing a 
 horse "lively" when he is being dressed over — that is, in tickling him till he 
 kicks again ; but it is assumed that no one who is likely to import an Arabian 
 would permit this practice.-^ The horse of Najd can seldom, if ever, need clipping ; 
 
 ^ Feeding-bags preserve the corn, or chaff, from be- 
 ing lost ; but they impede respiration, favour too rapid 
 eating, and are not ahvays taken off at the proper 
 time. They should not be made of leather or of 
 canvas, but of light and porous stuff The Arab 
 feeding-bag, of goat's or camel's hair, resembles a 
 sieve in texture, is very cheap, and can ahnost be 
 carried in the pocket. Hempen feeding-sheets, about 
 3 ft. square, and heavy enough to lie flat, do well 
 in horse-lines, but not where high winds may be 
 expected. 
 
 2 In an old English work on Farriery, entitled 
 Tke Perfect Horsemaiij or. The Experienced Secrets 
 of Mr Markha?!i^s Fifty Years' Practice, 1684, the 
 groom is directed "to rub down a horse's legs with 
 wisps, or with a clean cloth, or with your bare hands, 
 which is best of all." On another page, he is told 
 " to go over all parts " with his wet hands ; and 
 further, that " what his hands did wet, his hands 
 must rub dry again." The sponge is not mentioned ; 
 but we do not know whether to infer from this, that 
 sponges were not generally imported into England at 
 
 that date, or that Gervase Markham disapproved of 
 their use in stables. If he really meant to say that 
 the " bare hands " were better than sponges, then his 
 ideas were in advance not only of his own time but 
 of our time. Even the well-cared-for bath-sponge 
 soon becomes coated, in its countless pores or cells, 
 with sedimentary animal matter, which, when the 
 structure is wetted, issues again in liquid form. It is 
 stated that soap-suds form a richer manure than even 
 poudrette does ; and if so, it can easily be imagined 
 what the contents of a used sponge are. 
 
 3 Persian muleteers, when they remove th&pA-ldn or 
 pack-saddle, on halting days, curry their beasts with an 
 iron instrument ; but the only article which we have 
 ever seen the Arabs thus use is the mare's mikh-ldt, 
 or feeding - bag. This, when rolled up, resembles 
 the glove of cocoa-nut fibre with which the Indian 
 grooms dry-rub their horses. Even in Baghdad, the 
 shops will be searched in vain for a horse-brush. In 
 India, the fashion of picketing horses with head-ropes 
 and heel-ropes facilitates grooming ; and native horse- 
 men put a bit in the horse's mouth at " stable-hours," 
 
ON THE PROPER TREATMENT OF THE EXPORTED ARABIAN. 319 
 
 but his natural coat, even when in our chmate it grows thicker, generally requires 
 the addition of a blanket. The happy mean has to be observed here. It is true 
 that animal warmth proceeds from the food, but the surface also demands care. 
 A stable, provided that it be dry, may be comfortable without being at summer 
 heat ; and it is better to increase the clothing than to light the fire. We mention 
 this here, because in England many people think that the Arabian, as the native 
 of a warm climate, requires hothouse treatment. This, however, is a mistake. 
 As low down on the Euphrates as Kar-ba-la, thick ice may form night after night 
 in February. Taking into account the absence of stables, the Bedouin horse in 
 Sha-mi-ya experiences annually greater changes of climate, cold included, than any 
 highly-bred horse in England does. What the former is not accustomed to — not 
 at least till townsmen buy him — is smells. To insist that a stable shall not smell of 
 a stable is nonsense. The inoffensiveness, within due limits, of horses, compared 
 with most other kinds of domestic animals, is rather remarkable. The Irishman 
 does not object to allow pigs and poultry to live in the same room with him, but that 
 is an exceptional bias ; whereas no reasonable mortal should quarrel with his quar- 
 ters, if lodged in a spare loose-box in a well-kept stable. This circumstance en- 
 hances the risk of cleanliness beingf neglected. Accumulations in a stable do not 
 greatly offend the senses ; but the inhaling over and over again of air which is thus 
 contaminated ranks among- the causes of weakness and illness in stabled horses. 
 
 The Arabian, as we have seen, possesses the best of constitutions. If lodging 
 suited to his habit, and to the climate and season, judicious feeding, scrupulous 
 cleanliness, sufficient grooming, and last, but not least, plenty of work or exercise, 
 fail to keep him healthy in foreign countries, purgatives and tonics will not do so. 
 Of course we do not mean that the most perfect stable economy will altogether 
 ward off disease from the exported Arabian any more than from other horses, how- 
 ever much it may abate it. If ever the Arab horse hang his head, and refuse to 
 pick so much as a blade of green grass, it may be concluded that the diagnosis 
 and prescriptions of an experienced veterinary surgeon are demanded. We 
 say experienced, because not every man who holds a diploma can tell what ails a 
 horse. The juniors have their way to open, their rivers to set on fire, and their 
 
 and pass the bridle of it under his tail like a crupper, 
 to keep him from biting, and at the same time improve 
 his carriage. Of course, the grooms like this method, 
 and no man can master an animal of which he is 
 afraid ; but a horse is the better of being allowed 
 some play while he is being "dressed." A good 
 way to fix a horse which is being groomed in a 
 loose -box is, to stand him with his head towards 
 one corner of it and his tail towards another corner, 
 
 and tie him by two ropes passing from his head-stall 
 to staples in the wall on either side. There will then 
 neither be dead wall nor bars in front of him, for 
 him to grab at. A bit will seldom be necessar>', 
 and as for a "dressing muzzle," it is worse than 
 useless. A horse which is very ticklish had better 
 be groomed in knee-caps ; and if he stamp and paw 
 with his fore-feet, an old mattress should be thrown 
 down in front of him. 
 
320 
 
 CONCL US ION. 
 
 paper-kites of theories for whicli to find, or mal^e, materials. Give us tlie old man 
 who has passed his period of experimenting, and whose views of what will kill and 
 what maj'' cure are fixed on the basis of practice. When competent professional 
 advice cannot be obtained, and the seat of the ailment is unknown, it is better that 
 the poor animal should merely be made comfortable, and allowed to die of the 
 disease which has seized him, than that medicines should be rashly administered. 
 We know of a case in which a horse, after having been thus surrendered to 
 his fate, unexpectedly began to recover. One advantage which the Arabian 
 enjoys in India is that his Hindu groom does not give him slow poisons, under the 
 name of condition-balls or powders. In the East every horse-master has himself to 
 blame if this mischievous practice is followed ; but the desert horse which has never 
 tasted physic is in danger, when taken to England, of having his constitution 
 tampered with by groom-doctors as ignorant of the nature and effects of the various 
 compounds employed by them as they are of the animal economy. In many cases 
 a distemper tends to pass off naturally, either through running its course or on the 
 removal of its cause. And illnesses which will not yield to artificial medicines may 
 do so under changes of air and diet, comfortable warmth, rest, work or exercise, 
 hot or cold fomentations, hand-rubbing,^ and, above all things, patience. 
 
 In buying Arabians in Arabia, it is impossible to obtain a professional man's 
 verdict as to soundness. But this is no reason for pursuing an ostrich-like course 
 towards such purchases, after they have been brought to a civilised country. On 
 the contrary, they should all be submitted to a thorough veterinary examination, 
 after they have recovered from their "sea-sorrows" or injuries of transport. Not 
 many Bedouin horses which have been kept till five years' old in the desert will 
 pass this test satisfactorily. One which does so must be a very straight-made and 
 superior piece of workmanship. When the practised eye and hand of the 
 veterinarian have ascertained that there are no external traces of unsoundness, 
 that is final. But the case is different with the majority of " used " horses. At one 
 or more points, trivial or serious alterations indicate where certain parts have 
 proved unequal to the tasks which have been exacted from them. It is then that 
 the judgment of the qualified practitioner enables him to form an opinion of how 
 far the injury has proceeded, and what limitations it imposes on usefulness. 
 
 ^ Hand -rubbing is not exactly counter - irritation ; 
 but in many of the cases in which parts are bhstered, 
 this simple stimulant and form of pressure would 
 prove better treatment. Its value as a help to the 
 circulation, especially when exercise cannot be given, 
 is very considerable. Acting locally on the absorb- 
 ing and repairing power of nature, it promotes the 
 
 disappearance of non-inflammatory effusions round the 
 joints, and in the sheaths of tendons. Even bony mat- 
 ter, when recent, tends to yield to it. With hand- 
 rubbing, a horse's legs will stand more work than 
 they will do without it. The bandaged leg looks dull 
 and flabby, while the hand - rubbed one shines like 
 silver. 
 
ON THE PROPER TREATMENT OF THE EXPORTED ARABIAN. 321 
 
 Not to mention old horses which have left the desert as such, and are so 
 unmistakably broken down that no one would ever think of galloping them, 
 there is many a fresh-looking colt which may seem to ordinary people uninjured, 
 but in reality has been well started on the road to unsoundness by his Bedouin 
 rider. If such a one be hurriedly put in training, he may astonish his owner by 
 "breaking down badly," as it is called, after very moderate work. If, as a pre- 
 liminary step, he had been submitted to an able veterinarian, perhaps it would 
 have been pointed out that one of his suspensory ligaments was thicker than the 
 other, or that there was a thickening of its lower and sheath-like portion on one 
 side of the fetlock joint, or on both, and that an interval of at least a year was 
 essential to recovery. A hasty preparation may ruin the soundest horse ; and, 
 even apart from the dictates of humanity, it is a sad thing when a noble colt, which 
 might have proved a treasure to his owner for half a lifetime, is permanently 
 injured through incautious treatment in his first year in a new country. 
 
 The Bedouin* Hau-daj. 
 
 2 S 
 
INDEXES 
 
NOTE. 
 
 ON several grounds this Index requires to be introduced with something not unlil-;e an 
 apology. First, the fact is evident that it contains a good deal of material of a kind 
 •which is not usually committed to a table of reference. What opened the way for this 
 irregularity, if such it should be considered, was the adoption of the method of relegating 
 all foreign terms to a separate Index, instead of intermixing them with our own English 
 words in the columns of a general catalogue. From this it formed but a small step to pro- 
 ceed to the task which has been undertaken, of adding under the more important headings 
 a little special information. In how far that information will be appreciated is a different 
 question. According to our experience, those who, as travellers or otherwise, are interested 
 in Asiatic Turkey and Arabia, do not soon tire of fresh notes on the topography of those 
 countries. It also appears probable that the general reader, when he encounters references 
 to oriental worthies of antiquity, such as El Asma'-i and Abii '1 Fi-da, will gladly find at the 
 end of the volume slight notices of those people. And lastly, with so many of our countrymen 
 serving officially in parts like India and Egypt, the few articles which are devoted to the 
 elucidation of certain Arabic words bearing the closest relationship to Islamism will, we venture 
 to hope, be received with indulgence. 
 
 In regard to the attempts which are made in the Index to interpret Semitic names, we are 
 conscious that such explanations demand a fuller conversance than ours with linguistic science. 
 In Arabic, as in every other language, there are countless words the first meanings of which 
 cannot be discovered. The Arabic lexicographers did not know the origins of very many of 
 the terms which they collected ; and the etymologies given in Lane's great Arabic-English 
 dictionary are wholly Eastern in character. As for the Bedouin, they are still too hard pressed 
 in the struggle for existence to bestow much thought on the names which are handed down 
 among them. If the reader ask why, in the face of such difficulties, etymological material is 
 admitted into the Index, good reasons are not wanting. In the first place, it cannot be 
 altogether uninteresting to notice, even approximately, the lines which, from prehistoric 
 times, the Arabs of the desert have followed in bestowing names on their national or tribal 
 subdivisions, and on their breeds of horses and camels. And, secondly, some of the Euro- 
 pean travellers who pass our way exhibit a kind of instinctive tendency to investigate the 
 meanings of proper names. As the result in part of their researches, a plentiful crop of 
 " popular etymologies " has arisen ; ^ and the word-meanings which are offered in this Index, 
 however open to correction, are at least improvements on those that are arrived at through a 
 process of guessing. 
 
 ^ Par exemple^ a writer so learned as the late Dean 
 Stanley, in Sinai and Palestine (App., pp. 503 et 508) 
 identifies " Peleg " with niKayos — which is as if we 
 should derive the name of the N. American river 
 Potomac from Trorajxhs. The number of articulate 
 
 sounds is not unlimited ; and the European traveller 
 in Semite lands should always remember that two 
 Avords may be similar both in appearance and meaning, 
 without being akin to one another. 
 
INDEX I. 
 
 BEING A GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT TO ALL REFERENCES 
 TO ARABIC AND OTHER FOREIGN WORDS. 
 
 A'b-bas . 
 
 A'B-BA-Si . 
 A'B-BAS I. 
 
 A'B-BAS Pasha 
 
 A'B-BUD . 
 A'BD 
 
 A'b-da 
 
 A'bdu 'l A'ziz 
 
 A'bdu 'l Ka-dir 
 
 A 
 
 An Arabic proper name. The Prophet's paternal uncle 
 was A'b-bas ibn Mut-ta-lib, one of whose descendants, 
 nearly a century after the Flight, supplanted the U-may-yad 
 dynasty by the still more brilliant 
 
 or " Abbaside," line of thirty-seven princes ; with which 
 the historical Arab Caliphate terminated. V. arts. BAGHDAD, 
 et HULAGU, infra. 
 
 King of Persia (1585-1628), introduction of Arabian stal- 
 lions into Persia by, p. 273. 
 
 Viceroy of Egypt (1848-54), collection of Arabian horses 
 by, p. 219 et f.n. 3. His view on this subject, ibidem. 
 
 [A man's name.] The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, 
 Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 \_Worshipper, slave?\ P. 106. Et v. art. A'BDU 'LLA, infi-a. 
 
 A subdivis. of the Sham-mar Bedouin, represented both 
 in Al Ja-ZI-RA and (through Muhammad ibiui 'r Ra-shid) in 
 peninsular Arabia, p. 122 et f.n. 5. 
 
 One of the (Islamic) proper names of the Arabs which are 
 described at p. 107 et f.n. i. It has been given to an incon- 
 siderable mountain-range in N.W. Al Ja-zI-RA, p. "j^. 
 
 A proper name of the class described at p. 107 et f n. i. 
 
 A-MtR A'bdu 'd Ka-dh<, Prince of Maskara, and cham- 
 pion of Arab independence in Algeria, quoted, pp. 60, 161. 
 
 At p. 153 f.n. I, Shekh A'bdu 'l Ka-dir, Gt-ld-ni, 
 whose mausoleum adorns Baghdad. The Shekh was a Sai-yid 
 of the 1 2th Christian century. GlLAN, or GlL, the Persian 
 province on the Caspian in which is Rasht, is believed to 
 
326 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 A'BDU 'l Ka-dir — continued. 
 
 A'bdu 'l Ka-r1m . 
 
 A'BDU 'l WAH-HAB 
 
 A'bdu 'l Wah-hab, Haj-ji 
 A'bdu 'lla 
 
 ibn Sa-ba 
 
 A'bdu 'r Rah-mAn 
 Ab-jar 
 Ab-ra-ha 
 Ab-rash . 
 AbCi, or Ab . 
 
 have been his birthplace. He is now regarded as a great Pir, 
 or saint, through whose intercession both spiritual and mun- 
 dane blessings are to be obtained. A hereditary Na-KIB 
 {v. p. 153 et Ln. i), or warden, holds possession of his tomb, 
 and of the broad domains which are attached to it. Many 
 generations of pilgrims have enriched the Nakibate. The 
 azure dome which surmounts the Shekh's resting-place is 
 one of the chief features of Baghdad. Spacious bazars, and 
 the residences of the Na-kib's relatives, give a good appear- 
 ance to this quarter. In religions, not only extremes, but 
 also lines of separation, tend towards one another. The 
 Wahabi, as he passes through this region, reviles the 
 " associators of saints with Allah " ; but many millions of 
 the Sun-nite Muslim find in A'bdu '1 Ka-dir all the com- 
 fort which their Shi-ite brethren do in A'li. 
 
 One of the proper names described at p. 107 et f.n. i. 
 
 A very great figure in Arabian history. Born 1691 ; died 
 1787. Pp. 161 et f.n. I, 164. (For page references to the 
 school which he founded, v. under WahabyisM in Index ii.) 
 
 The Arab horse-dealer, pp. 176, 306, 307. 
 
 An extremely prevalent proper name among the Arabs. 
 The Prophet's father bore it. (The accusative and the voca- 
 tive forms are A'bda 'lla ; and the genitive, A'bdi 'lla. V. 
 arts. A'BD, et Allah.) 
 
 Prince of Jabal Shammar, p. 40. 
 
 Grandson of Fai-sal, Sultan of Najd, p. 42. 
 
 P. 106 f.n. 3. 
 
 The Arab horse-dealer, p. 307. 
 
 A'ntar's charger, p. 237. 
 
 One of the Ethiopian kings of Yemen, p. 28. 
 
 One of the colours of Arabian horses. Table p. 263. 
 
 One of those ancient Semitic words which, we may assume, 
 existed before Hebrew was Hebrew, before Syriac was Syriac, 
 and before Arabic was Arabic : v. p. 34 f.n. i. As far back 
 as the beginning of literary Arabic, a-bil conveyed the idea of 
 physical paternity ; for Al Kur-an uses it in this sense — e.g., 
 in S. xxiv. If this be the pri7na?'y mea.mng of a-M, then such 
 phrases as aMi-zait-ja, possessor of a wife — i.e., husband ; aWi.- 
 'l-husain, constructor of the little fortress — i.e., the fox ; and 
 the like, are rightly regarded b.s fgiirative ; and this is the 
 common view. But see, in Professor Robertson Smith's Kin- 
 ship and Marriage in Early Arabia, an argument that the 
 idea of possession which is so frequently conveyed by a-bn 
 forms the primary, not the secondary, meaning ; that in pre- 
 historic Arabia fatherhood did not necessarily imply pro- 
 creation ; and that the family was held together by the rule 
 that the head of it was the father, merely in the sense of 
 possessor, of all the children born on his bed. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 327 
 
 ABtr A'-MIR 
 Abu ju-nCtb 
 
 Abu 'l Fi-dA . 
 Pp. 20, 79, 98. 
 
 AbO 'l Is-lam 
 AbO 'l Khashm 
 AbO ma'-ra-fa 
 
 Abu Ru-wais . 
 ABt> Saur 
 
 Abu U'r-kub . 
 
 Ab-yar . 
 Ab wa ha-wa 
 Aden 
 
 Adh dhill fi 'l hadhr 
 Ad-ham .... 
 Adhmu 's sabk 
 
 A'd-nan .... 
 
 The name of a sub-strain of the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, 
 Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 [Possessor of flanks — i.e., large-barrelled, and well ribbed 
 up.] The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 
 col. i., and in pedigree facing p. 136. 
 
 [Father of ransom, Jieroism, devotion?^ The epithet of a 
 Saracen leader, born at Damascus in the time of the Crusades, 
 who, when his inherited but disputed princedom of HA-MA 
 {q. V.) had been confirmed to him, as the reward of prowess, 
 by the Egyptian Sultan, divided the remaining 20 years of 
 his life between the duties of government, the encouragement 
 of scholars, and the gratification of his literary bent. Abu '1 
 Fi-da's epitome of Arabian history was fully drawn on by 
 Gibbon, and only the most recent European writers have 
 opened up new material. 
 
 A title of the patriarch Abraham, p. loi. 
 
 V. p. 34 fn. I. 
 
 [Possessor of a maiie.'] The name of a strain in Al Kham- 
 SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 The name of a leader of the Sham-mar, p. 64. 
 
 [Having impetuosity.'] The name of a strain in Al Kham- 
 SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 [Possessed of large hocks.] The name of a sub-strain of the 
 stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 [PI. of^2V.] Wells, p. 105. 
 
 In Persian, water and air ; idiomatically, climate, p. 3. 
 
 In Arabic, ddn means abiding ; and in Al Kur-An, fan- 
 na-tu 7 ddn means Heaven. The Hebrew " Eden " is the 
 same word as the Arabic ddn ; but the idea of a terrestrial 
 Paradise, though not untraceable in ancient Arab legend, is 
 absent from Islamism. The seaport of Aden or A'dn, in 
 Yemen, early became a great entrepot of the trade between 
 Europe and Asia; but the identification of it with the "Eden" 
 mentioned in Ezek. xxvii. 23 is erroneous. The " Eden " with 
 which the merchant princes of Tyre trafficked, almost certainly 
 was a place on the Upper Euphrates, near Ba-lis. The history 
 of the modern Aden — pp. 20, 26 — is that of the Red Sea 
 route to India. Tlie capture of the town, in 1839, was the 
 first addition made to the British empire in the reign of 
 Queen Victoria. 
 
 The Bedouin saying, p. 119. 
 
 One of the colours of Arabian horses, Table p. 262. 
 
 A name which Arab horse-dealers facetiously give to splint, 
 p. 177 et fn. I. 
 
 An important step or figure (said to be the 21st before 
 Muhammad) in the genealogical ladder by which Arabian 
 pedigree-makers connect the "Ishmaelite" Arabs with Abra- 
 ham, p. 99. 
 
328 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Adr. 
 A'D-WAN . 
 
 Ae-ni-za . 
 
 A'FA-RfX . 
 
 Af-dha-hi 
 Af-nas . 
 
 Agel 
 Agha Khan 
 
 Ah-dab or Al Ah-dab , 
 
 Ahl 
 
 Ahlu 'l bait . 
 Ahlu 'l ha-yit 
 Ahlu 'l ma-dar . 
 Ahlu 'l wa-bar . 
 Ahlu 'sh Shi-mal 
 Ahlu 't tin . 
 Ah-mar . 
 A'-ID BIN Ta-mi-mi 
 
 [Al] A'ith 
 
 Al-YAMU 'L JA-HI-LI-YA 
 
 A'i-yash . . . . 
 
 [Correctly idh-khir.'] The Lemon grass [Andropogon 
 schoenanthiis\ p. 38. 
 
 \Chargers?\ A Bedouin horde whose pastures are in the 
 north-western parts of Al Ja-zi-ra, p. 75. 
 
 The greatest, perhaps, of the Bedouin nations of Arabia. 
 [The connection of the name with dnz, the she-goat, is too 
 probable not to have been noticed both by Arab and European 
 scholars.] Pp. 23, 42, 51, 65, 69, 73, 75, 83, 84, 85, 103, 104, 
 106, 122 et fn. 5, 123, 129, 138, 146, 149, 184, 210, 214, 218, 
 241, 244, 264, 269, 292, 293, 294 f.n. 2, 298. 
 
 [PI. of tf-rtt; q. v. in art. Ophir.] A subdivis. of the 
 Sham-mar, p. 122. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 
 col. iii. 
 
 [For af-tas, having the nasal bones depressed and expanded^ 
 A characteristic feature of the face in the Arabian breed, 
 p. 253 ^/ f.n. 4. 
 
 [Correctly U'kail ; from the same root as i'-kdl ; v. Ma'-GIL.] 
 A body of the Arabian people, pp. 215 et f.n. 2, 293. 
 
 Or more formally, in official documents, " His Highness 
 Agha Khan, Mehelati," is the title familiarly borne by each 
 succeeding head of the distinguished Persian family which is 
 mentioned on the frontispiece of our volume, at pp. 269, 310, 
 and more fully in art. Alamut, infra. [Agha, Aga, et Aka, 
 and Khan or Kaan, are Tatar words of the same meaning 
 as Bey or Beg, q. V. In Persia and Central Asia, khan is 
 also a common name for the caravansary, a merchant's store 
 or place of business, and the like.] 
 
 [Co-derivative with Had-ban, q. v.'\ The name of a sub- 
 strain of the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 All those of one house, race, or religion ; like our people in 
 " one's own people." 
 
 Tent folk, another term for the Bedouin, p. 91. 
 
 People of boundaries, such as villagers and townsmen, p. 91. 
 
 Peasants, p. 48 et f.n. i. 
 
 A descriptive given to the Bedouin, p. 48 f.n. i. 
 
 Nations (more or less nomadic) of the North, p. 271. 
 
 Another epithet of peasants, p. 15. 
 
 A colour in horses, p. 260 et f n. 4 ; Table p. 262. 
 
 The Arabian horse-exporter, pp. 258, 260. [The root oia-id 
 is that of id ; sc, returning time after time, as a Iwliday does.] 
 The Ba-nu Ta-mim are chiefly cultivators. The town of 
 Huta in Najd is their centre. 
 
 {^Plain of sand.} A segment of Al Ha-w1-JA, pp. 82, 83. 
 
 [Daj's of Igno7'ance.] The pre- Islamic ages in Arabia, p. 
 52 £>/ fn. 7. 
 
 [Having mucli of the means of life.'] A subdivis. of the 
 Ae-ni-za, Table p. 121. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 329 
 
 Ai-yOb 
 P. 106. 
 
 AjA or Ja-BAL Aja 
 
 A'JA-JI-RA 
 
 A'jam 
 
 A'juz 
 
 A'ka-ba .... 
 Akh-dhar 
 
 A-KHIRU 'D DA-WA, el KAI 
 
 A'kId .... 
 Al 
 
 Al 
 
 [Al] A'bd 
 Al A'bdi 'lla 
 
 Alam-dhai-yan 
 Alamut . 
 
 The Arabs thus render the proper name which in the 
 Bibhcal hterature is lyyob ["Job"]. It is impossible to say 
 whether the name originated in the speech which is now 
 called Hebrew, or in Arabic. A certain man named Ai-yub 
 is cited in Al Kur-AN as an example at once of firm piety 
 under affliction, and of the great reward thereof. Of course, 
 if it be considered that the " lyyob " of the Hebrew poem 
 was ab origine a poetic creation, or an allegoric figure like 
 Bunyan's Greatheart, then the " Ai-yub " of the Arabs must 
 have been borrowed ; and the traditions about him which 
 commentators on- the Kur-an relate, seeing that "The 
 Book of Job " does not contain them, cannot be really 
 ancient. But if the hero of the poem was more or less 
 a historic person, then it is highly probable that he was an 
 Arab. "The Book of Job" is adjudged to be "a genuine 
 outcome of the religious life and thought of Israel ; " but 
 its anonymous author may have taken his materials from 
 the traditions of the Arabs ; and this supposition supplies an 
 easy explanation of the Arabian characteristics of the poem. 
 
 A mountain-chain over against HA-YIL, q. v. infra. P. 39. 
 
 A subdivis. of the Ae-ni-za, Table p. 121. 
 
 The Arabs thus designate Iran or Persia ; and a Persian 
 is with them Ajami (p.' 270), to which they attach the sense 
 of barbariis — i.e., strange or foreign in origin, speech, and 
 aspect. 
 
 Etymologically, the stimip or ninip of anything ; or the 
 being behind-hand, or incapacitated, in respect of a tiling ; 
 whence an aged woman, pp. 232, 233. 
 
 The name usually given by the Arabs to a pass over 
 mountains, pp. 23, 25, 29. 
 
 One of the colours of Arabian horses. Table p. 263. 
 
 Arab saying as to firing, p. 184. 
 
 The organiser and leader of an expedition, p. 112 et fn. i. 
 
 The Arabic def. article. [Before certain letters of the 
 alphabet, — "dentals," "sibilants," and "liquids," — the /of 
 the def. art., though expressed in writing, is passed over in 
 pronunciation, and assimilated to the following consonant.] 
 
 Often mistaken for the foregoing. Used as prefix of that 
 part of an Arab's name which indicates his family. Perhaps 
 a variant of Ahl, q. v. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-sa, Table p. 235 col. ii. 
 
 \^Race of A'bdn 'lla.'] A subdivis. of the Ij-las Ae-ni-za, 
 Table p. 121. 
 
 The name of a horde of the Ae-ni-za, Table p. 121. 
 
 In f n. I p. 30, " Ismailism " was mentioned. In this con- 
 nection the " Ismailians " are those among the Shi-i' who 
 hold Ismai'l, the seventh in descent from A'li, to have been 
 the last of the revealed I-mams. Out of the Ismailians there 
 2 T 
 
jj'- 
 
 GLOSS A RIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Alam CiT- — continued. 
 
 proceeded, in our nth century, the secret military and re- 
 hgious sect which in ' The Book of Ser Marco Polo ' is des- 
 ignated the " Ashishin," and which is known in Europe 
 as " The Assassins." ^ One of the numerous mountain 
 strongholds of " The Assassins " was Alamut (p. 269), 
 on the Elburz range, in Persia. It has been generally 
 assumed, though without much warrant, that that was 
 the site of the Elysium to which the following passages in 
 Marco Polo relate : " The Old Man " -—i.e., the head of the 
 Assassins — " . . . had caused a certain valley between two 
 mountains to be inclosed, and had turned it into a garden 
 . . . running with conduits of wine and milk and honey 
 and water, and full of lovely women for the delectation 
 of all its inmates. And sure enough the Saracens of those 
 parts believed that it was Paradise ! . . . He kept at his 
 Court a number of the youths of the country, from twelve 
 to twenty years of age, such as had a taste for soldiering : 
 and these ... he would introduce into his garden, some 
 four, or six, or ten, at a time, having first made them drink 
 a certain potion which cast them into a deep sleep. . . . 
 So when they awoke, they found themselves in the garden. 
 . . . And the ladies and damsels dallied with them to their 
 hearts' content, so that they had what young men would 
 have. . . . And when he [the Prince whom we call the Old 
 One] wanted one of his Ashishin to send on any mission, 
 he would cause that potion whereof I spoke to be given 
 to one of the youths in the garden, and then had him carried 
 into his Palace. So when the young man awoke, he found 
 himself in the Castle, and no longer in that Paradise, whereat 
 he was not over well pleased. ... So when the Old Man 
 would have any Prince slain, he would say to such a youth, 
 ' Go thou, and slay so and so ; and when thou returnest, my 
 Angels shall bear thee into Paradise. And shouldest thou 
 die, natheless even so will I send my Angels to carry thee 
 back into Paradise. So he caused them to believe ; and thus 
 there was no order of his that they would not affront any 
 peril to execute, for the great desire they had to get back 
 into that Paradise of his." [K Marco Polo, Bk. I. chs. xxiii., 
 xxiv., et XXV.] 
 
 In our 13th century, Hulagu, the Tatar, completely broke 
 the power of the "Assassins" in Persia, slaying about 12,000 
 
 ^ Sir H. Yule sanctions the interpretation that tlie Fi- 
 dd-iuts, or Fi-dd-is {devotees), of the "Old One's" Para- 
 dise were called Ha-sht'Shin from their use of the drug 
 hashish, and that the modern application of the word 
 ' ' Assassin " thus originated. 
 
 - In the time of the Crusades an offshoot of the "Assassins" 
 
 of Persia flourished in Syria. The Crusaders called the 
 chief of these Lebanon sectaries "The Old Man of the 
 Mountain, " a translation of his popular Arabic title, Shaikhi 
 H ja-bal. It has not been ascertained, but it is probable, 
 that the same title was borne by the prince of the Alamut 
 " Assassins" also. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 331 
 
 AlamCt — continued. 
 
 Al bu Muhammad [bu for 
 
 ABU]. 
 
 Al hamdu l' Illah 
 
 Al harb si-jal ; yaum la- 
 
 NA : YAUM A'LAI-NA. 
 
 Al Him-zan .... 
 Al Ka-mi .... 
 
 Al kha-in kha-if 
 
 Al Khair ma'-kud fi na- 
 
 wA-si 'l khail, i-la yau- 
 
 mi 'l ki-ya-ma. 
 Al Kham-sa .... 
 
 A'Ll 
 
 A'li bin Khu-dhai-ri 
 
 of them. A few years afterwards, the Syrian branch was 
 nearly extirpated by Bibars, the Mameluke Sultan of Egypt. 
 How times change is strikingly illustrated by the circum- 
 stance that the lineal descendants of Ha-san ibn Sa-ba, the 
 founder of the " Assassins," have for three generations lived 
 quietly at Poena, Bombay, or Bangalore. The title of "Agha 
 Khan " is that by which the family is now best known. An 
 ex-Governor of Bombay, writing when the Agha Khan who 
 first sought refuge in India was still alive, thus remarked : 
 " His sons, popularly known as the ' Persian Princes,' are 
 active sportsmen, and age has not dulled the Agha's enjoy- 
 ment of horse-racing. Some of the best blood of Arabia 
 is always to be found in his stables. He spares no expense 
 on his racers ; and no prejudice of race or religion prevents 
 his availing himself of the science and skill of an English 
 trainer or jockey when the races come round. Lads who 
 learned to ride on Epsom Downs may be seen carrying his 
 colours to the front on horses bred in the stony valleys of 
 Najd. The Agha is always present, eyeing the contest with 
 as keen an interest as forty years ago he would have watched 
 a charge of horse on the plains of Khurasan or Kandahar." 
 [ V. two papers on Tlie KIwjas : The Disciples of the Old Man 
 of ike Mountains, by the late Sir H. B. E. Frere, in ' Mac- 
 millan's Magazine,' vol. xxxiv. pp. 342-350 et 430-438.] 
 An I'raki horde, p. 84 f.n. i. 
 
 The common expression of the Arabs, p. 38 et f n. 3. 
 A saying of the Arabs, p. 128. 
 
 [Children of Hini-sdn.] A subdivis. of the Sham-mar, p. 1 22. 
 
 The name of a strain of the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table 
 p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 A saying of the Arabs, p. 137. 
 
 Thus may be written the " Saying " of the Prophet which 
 in the original Arabic letters adorns our title-page. At p. 
 158 the "Saying" is translated. 
 
 [The Five.] Sc, the five great central and parallel lines 
 of blood in which the Bedouin Arabs consider all their 
 established strains of horses now to run, pp. 233, 234, 236, 
 237, 241, 252, 261, 267, 269, 295. Table of Al Kham-SA, p. 
 
 23S- 
 
 The five fingers of the right hand, p. 191 et f n 2, 293. 
 
 The five plenishings of an Arab bride, p. 234. 
 
 A very old proper name. The best known bearer of it was 
 A'li idn Abi Ta-lib, the fourth Arabian Caliph : for references 
 to whom V. pp. 106 f.n. 3, 159, 160, 239 et f.n. 3 ; and in art. 
 SUN-NI AND Shi-i', infra. 
 
 The Baghdad horse-dealer, p. 271. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Allah 
 
 [Al] A-mIr 
 
 [PI. U-MA-RA] 
 A'-MIR 
 
 Am-lah 
 
 A' MR 
 
 A'MtJD 
 A'NA 
 
 An-sab 
 
 A'n-tar . 
 
 [For A'n-ta-ra.] 
 
 A'n-zu 'd Dar-wish 
 [Al] A'rabu 'l A'riba . 
 A'rabu 'l A'ribati 'l ba-i- 
 
 DA. 
 
 A'rabu 'l Kib-l1 . 
 
 A'-RA-FA . 
 
 A'rak 
 Ar-bIl 
 
 \_Al, the def. article, et i-Wi, an object of awe, reverence, or 
 zvorship?\ The Arabic form, Allah {passim), is thus a 
 development of the very ancient god-name El, out of which, 
 in every Semitic speech, the name expressive of the unspecial- 
 ised deity has proceeded. Max Miiller thus observes, in Intro- 
 duction to tlie Science of Religion, p. 179, " In Arabic, . . . 
 Allah becomes the name of the God of Muhammad, as it was 
 the name of the God of Abraham and of Moses." 
 
 In the sense of king (synonyms, Malik, and, less usually, 
 Siiltdn), pp. 17, 39 f.n. 2, 4.0-4S passim. 
 
 [Living long.^ A Bedouin proper name ; after a bearer of 
 which is called a sub-strain of the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, 
 Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 One of the colours of Arabian horses, Table p. 263. 
 
 One of the Seven poets of THE Mu-a'l-la-kat, g. v. 
 infra; Translations from A'mr's poem, pp. 42, 104 fn. i, 
 117, 130 f.n. 4, 240. 
 
 [Supports, esp. tent-poles.] A subdivis. of the Sham-mar, p. 
 122 et f.n. 5. 
 
 A town on W. bank of the Euphrates, 160 miles N.W. of 
 Baghdad, pp. 12, 6j. 
 
 [PI. of n2isd.~\ Settings 7/p of the class described in Gen. 
 XXXV., the primitive type of all later " altars," p. 54 f n. 2. 
 Et v. art. Baitu 'llah, i^ifra. 
 
 A renowned warrior and raconteur of pagan Arabia, whose 
 classic poem is included in the Mu-a'L-LA-KAT, q. v. infra. 
 There also exists a romantic account of A'ntar's adventures, 
 in rhythmic prose interspersed with verses, which, after being 
 printed at Alexandria and Beyrout, has been translated into 
 English. Translation from Antar'S poem, p. 221. Other 
 references to, pp. 56, 106 f.n. 2, 112 fn. i, 136, 234, 237. 
 
 [Goat, or wild goat, of the dervise.] The name of a strain 
 in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 The so-called Arabian, i.e. (comparatively) indigenous, 
 inhabitants of the Arab peninsula, p. 98 f n. 2. 
 
 A collective name for the prehistoric inhabitants of 
 Arabia, p. 97 f.n. i. 
 
 [Arabs of the South.'] Comprehensive appellation of cer- 
 tain great masses of the Bedouin, or quasi Bedouin, Arabs, 
 p. 271 fn. 2. 
 
 Name of a subdivis. of the Sba' Ae-ni-za, Table p. 121. 
 
 As origin of naturalised word arrack, p. 119 fn. i. 
 
 One of the many dwindled Assyrian cities which the Porte 
 now possesses. Its situation between the two Zab (or Ui-ab) 
 rivers, near the mountain barriers of Persia, makes it a good 
 military post. Near it the empire of Asia transferred itself 
 (331 B.C.) from Darius to Alexander. Once again (a.D. 749) 
 the same locality witnessed a decisive battle, when the 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 333 
 
 A'-RIDH . 
 AR-JA-Si . 
 
 Ar-ka-bi 
 Ar-na-bi . 
 
 As-a'f 
 
 A-sA-lat 
 
 A-SAS 
 
 As-dA 
 
 AS-DAF . 
 
 As-far . 
 [Al] A'-sha 
 P. 177 f.n. I. 
 
 As-hab . 
 A-sha-ji-a' 
 Ash-a'l . 
 Ash-hab . 
 
 ASH-KAR . 
 A-SIL 
 
 Ask-abAd 
 
 AS-LAM 
 
 [Al] As-ma'-i, Abu Sa-i'd 
 a'bdi 'l Malik, ibn Ku- 
 
 RAIB. 
 
 P. 98. 
 
 AS-WAD 
 
 A't-fa 
 
 last prince of the Damascus dynasty received his quietus 
 from the soldier of fortune, Abu Mus-lim, and Syria was 
 overrun by Persians. Pp. 62 fn. 2, 159 f.n. 5. 
 
 \_P resenting itself.'] Name of a province in Najd, pp. 32 
 
 f.n. I, 43- 
 
 The name of a strain of the stock of Ku-HAI-lAn, Table 
 p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 [^Having large knees.] The name of a strain in Al Kham- 
 SA, Table p. 235 col. ii. 
 
 [From ar-nab, a hare.] The name of a strain in Al Kham- 
 SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. ii. 
 
 " Thorough-breeding," pp. 94, 245 et seq. 
 
 The parts of a horse from the knee downward, p. 178. 
 
 One of the colours of Arabian horses, Table p. 262. 
 
 \Ttirning azvay from.] Said of a horse whose fore-legs 
 incline outward, p. 200. 
 
 One of the colours of Arabian horses. Table p. 263. 
 
 Mai-mtm, Al A'-sha, was an Arabian poet of the Prophet's 
 era. Some authorities would have included his masterpiece 
 in the Mu-a'l-LA-kAt, q. v. infra. 
 
 One of the colours of Arabian horses. Table p. 263. 
 
 Name of a horde of the Ij-las Ae-ni-za, Table p. 121. 
 
 One of the colours of Arabian horses, Table p. 263. 
 
 Table p. 263. 
 „ „ Table p. 262. 
 
 As applied to breed or pedigree, pp. 94, 138, 236, 245 et seq. 
 
 A settlement, now a Russian post and railway station, 
 within 400 miles of Hirat, in the great oasis called Atok of 
 the Turcoman desert, p. 274 fn. i. 
 
 S^Sonnd?\ Asubdivis. of the Sham-mar Bedouin,p. I22e/fn. 5. 
 
 One of the authorities quoted in the romance of A'n-tar ; 
 but not, as is sometimes represented, the author of the poem, 
 which belongs to a much later period. " El As-ma'-i " was born 
 at Bussorah, c. "jAfl A.D. In the palmy days of Ha-runu 'r 
 Ra-shid he formed one of the principal attractions of Baghdad. 
 A European writer has described him as "the almost perfect 
 type of those nomadic devotees of literature who, after they 
 had grown pale on the benches of Bussorah or Kufa, went to 
 complete their education in the desert, in the possession of 
 boundless stores of learning, and yet animated by an en- 
 thusiasm for further acquisition which made them willing 
 to travel across the sands for hundreds of leagues, if only 
 they might preserve an ancient tradition, or pick up the frag- 
 ments of an ancient song." 
 
 One of the colours of Arabian horses, Table p. 262. 
 
 [Inclining, esp. toivards.] The Bedouin girl who, on great oc- 
 casions, leads the tribesmen towards the enemy, p. 127 ctLn. i. 
 
334 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Au-SAM ..... Specimens of ■ 
 
 Aw-WAL RA-FIK, THUM-MA A saying of the Arabs, p. 293. 
 TA-RIK. 
 
 Az-ba-r! 
 
 , or camel brands, p. 6^ f n. 
 
 AZ-LAM . 
 
 [PL of sa- 
 
 laJH.I 
 
 AZ-RAK 
 
 [Large between the shotilders^ The name of a strain in Al 
 Kham-sa, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 [Arrozus.] The rods by means of which the Arabs, in the 
 time of Ignorance, sought to know what was allotted to them. 
 They did so by making certain marks on the arrows, placing 
 them in a receptacle, and then drawing them. This practice 
 put down by Muhammad, p. 54 fn. 2. [From Ezek. xxi. 
 21, we know that the Semite Babylonians used divining 
 arrows, at the same time that they inspected entrails, as a 
 means of guidance. For divination in Israel, v. Zech. x. 2. 
 A very late survival of the " praying and drawing lots " usage 
 is depicted in Sz/as Marner, ch. i.] 
 
 One of the colours of Arabian horses. Table p. 263. 
 
 Bab . 
 Bab I A'li 
 
 Bab-il, Bab-ili, Bab-el 
 [Gr. form Babylon.] 
 
 BAbtj 'l Man-dab . 
 
 BA-DI-A . 
 
 Ba-di-atu 'l I'rak 
 
 Ba-DI-ATU 'L jAZfRA 
 
 Ba-di-atu 'sh sham 
 Badr, Badar, Bedr 
 
 Bad-w 
 
 B 
 
 A doorway, or entrance. 
 
 \_Lofty entrance.'] The Osmanlis' name for the Prime Minis- 
 ter's official residence ; whence " Sublime Porte " has come to 
 signify H. I. Majesty the Sultan's Government, p. yd>. 
 
 [Gate of God.] In the language of the ancient Su- 
 mirian and Akkadian inhabitants of Assyria and Babylonia, 
 the name of the capital was Ka-di-mir-ra (by some written 
 " Ka-dingira ") ; and the Semitic rendering of this word is 
 Bab-el, or Bab-ili. P. 78. 
 
 Straits of , which connect the Red Sea and the 
 
 Indian Ocean, pp. 23, 99 fn. 4. [Man-dab equally means 
 place of %veeping,zxid. place of summons. Either interpretation 
 may connect the site with the geographical legend that 
 the existing separation between Arabia and Africa was 
 here effected ; according to one account, through a natural 
 catastrophe, and according to another account, through the 
 labours of workmen whom a king or a god assembled.] 
 
 The desert, p. 18. 
 
 V. arts. Bad-w, et I'rak, infra. P. 65. 
 
 V. arts. Bad-w, et Jazira, infra. P. 65. 
 
 V. arts. Bad-w, et Sham, infra. P. 65. 
 
 [TJie fidl round moo7t?^ At p. 40 fn. i, Badr, the son of 
 Ti-lal, prince of Ja-bal Sham-mar. 
 
 [TJie being plain, or open.] From this root come bai-dd, et 
 bd-di-a, the desert ; and ba-da-iui, of or belonging to the desert. 
 The pi. oiba-da-wt is ba-da-zvi-ytl-na, and, in the oblique cases, 
 ba-da-wt-yi-na, ex quo, our form " Bedouin," q. v., for page 
 references, in Index ii. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 335 
 
 Ba-gha . . . 
 Baghdad 
 
 [For page references v. 
 dex ii.] 
 
 Bagh-LA . 
 
 [Al] Bai-at . 
 Bai-da 
 BA-i-Ri . 
 Bait 
 
 P. 115 f.n. 3. 
 
 Battu 'llah . 
 
 Pp. 54 f.n. 2, 115 fn. 2. 
 
 Bakh-shish 
 
 Bakht-i-a-r1 
 
 Pp. 149 f.n. I, 284. 
 
 Ringbone, p. 178 et f.n. i. 
 
 The well-known city on the Tigris, about 500 miles inland 
 In- from the sea. Not long ago, all the country from Mosul to 
 the Sea of Persia constituted one large Ottoman Pashalik, 
 which was administered from Baghdad. The same districts 
 are now arranged in the three governorships of Mosul, 
 Baghdad, and Bussorah. 
 
 The modern Baghdad is near, but not on, the site of the 
 capital of the Abbaside princes — the Baghdad of Ha-runu 'r 
 Ra-shid (a.D. 786-809), the Barmecide family, and The Thou- 
 sand and One Nights. 
 
 A city of Babylonia named Bakdadu, or Pakdadji (possibly 
 Khiidadu), has recently been traced in the Assyrian geo- 
 graphical catalogues of the time of Assur-bani-pal, the " Sar- 
 danapalus " of the Greeks. This cannot be the Baghdad 
 which we know ; but the name may have descended from the 
 one city to the other. 
 
 The Baghdad of our day is little better than a heap of 
 relics, wrapped in a bright but tattered covering. 
 
 {A female mtde?[ Name given by the Arabs to one of 
 their largest kinds of sailing craft, p. 260. 
 
 Peasant squatters of N.E. Prak, p. 84 fn. i. 
 
 Synonym of bd-di-a, p. 18. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 Perhaps the simplest, or radical, meaning of this word is, 
 the being in a place, zuhether in the night-time or tlie day-time. 
 But practically, bait signifies a tent, or even a more permanent 
 habitation, as in Gen. xxxiii. 17. 
 
 [ V. arts. Bait, et Ka'-BA.] Etymologically, Baitn 'llah 
 and Beth-el are, of course, but slightly different forms of one 
 name. The Semitic "Baitulia" of antiquity, we know, were 
 not houses. Acts of worship consecrated them ; but the 
 Deity was not supposed to inhabit them. And at this day 
 the same remark is applicable to the " Baitu 'llah" of Mecca. 
 
 A Persian word, meaning a present or gratuity, p. 175. 
 [It may be very true that, in the East, the thirst for bakh- 
 shish savours of beggary. But those of our countrymen 
 whose duties lie in Asia or Africa should remember that the 
 best kinds of dependants value an occasional " little present " 
 from a master, more highly than they do their regular wages.] 
 
 The name of the great mountain series which separates the 
 lower Tigris from the Ispahan plain. The strongholds and 
 pastures of the Bakht-i-a-ri nation are contained within these 
 rugged spaces. The Bakht-i-a-ri are absolutely lawless ; 
 but a considerable degree of nobility and elevation charac- 
 terises them. They are divided into greater and smaller 
 clans. They boast that they are of the old Lu-ri blood ; and 
 they look down on the Shah and his nobles as foreigners. 
 
336 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Ba-kil-la 
 BA-Ktr-RA 
 
 Ba'l [Biblical " Baal "] 
 
 Ba-lad 
 
 Ba-lis 
 Ba-l1-ya 
 
 Ba-na-tu 'l A'-waj 
 
 Ban-dar . 
 
 Ba-nu Hijr . 
 
 Ba-nu Is-ra-1l 
 
 Ba-nCt Kalb . 
 
 BA-Ntr Kha-lid 
 Ba-niCt Lam . 
 
 The tall spring bean of El I'rak, p. 82 f.n. i. 
 
 The short stick, often of almond, having a crook at the 
 thicker end, with which the Arab seizes his camel's nose- 
 ring and his mare's halter, p. 150. [A more classical name 
 for the ba-kA-ra is miJi-jan. It is also called the viish-db 
 and the m2igh-an?\ 
 
 Equally in Arabic and in other cognate speeches, ^«'/ means 
 master, or ozvner ; and it has been seen, p. 240 et f n. 2, that 
 at least as far back as a.d. c. 550, the Arab women spoke 
 of their husbands under this name. From remote ages, suc- 
 cessful expeditions have meant for Semites a fresh supply 
 of wives. The tradition existed in ancient Arabia that the 
 strongest children were those born of reluctant mothers. The 
 Arab bridal procession still presents the semblance of raiders 
 bringing back a maiden. The poet A'mr mentioned dis- 
 tribution, sc. by captors, as among the dangers against which 
 the desert gallants were bound to defend the free-born Arab 
 spouses who accompanied them in their migrations. 
 
 Any tract comprehended within certain limits, p. 5. [Pro- 
 fessor Noldeke considers ba-lad to be the Latin Palatiiim.'] 
 Ba-lad mat, a dead, or deserted, town, p. 251. 
 
 Ruins on the Euphrates which are held to mark the spot 
 where the river issues into " Northern Arabia," p. 65. 
 
 [ Worn out, as zvith travel, or stai^vation.'] The mare, or she- 
 camel, tied beside the dead man's grave, according to the 
 ancient Bedouin usage, which is mentioned at p. 130 et fn. 5. 
 [We have diligently sought for evidence showing that any of 
 the Bedouin still tie up the ba-li-ya. Every townsman, and 
 every desert Arab, has heard of this custom ; and several 
 people have informed us that they, or others whom they 
 knew, had seen it practised ; but such statements are not to 
 be trusted. The pastoral Todas who inhabit the mountains 
 of Southern India, when one of their number dies, slaughter 
 buffaloes, under the belief that the deceased will drink their 
 milk in the place to which he has departed.] 
 
 The name, according to tradition, of a very ancient race of 
 Arabian horses, p. 306. 
 
 Eldest son, and, after his uncle Mut-a'b, successor, of Amir 
 Ti-lal of Ja-bal Sham-mar, p. 40 et fn. i. 
 
 A Bedouin nation of the Persian Gulf littoral, p. 59 
 fn. 2. 
 
 {Race of Israel, p. 104 et fn. 2.] The name of an African 
 antelope, p. 99 f.n. 4. 
 
 \Race of Dog:\ Nomad hordes which spread from Yemen 
 northward, p. 116 fn. 2. 
 
 A considerable Bedouin nation, pp. 29, 58, 59 fn. 2. 
 
 A confederation of tribes, partly settled and partly nomadic, 
 p. 84 fn. I. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Ba-nCt Sakhr 
 P. 271. 
 
 BA-Ntr Yas 
 
 BA-RA-Zi-YA . 
 
 Ba-ri-da-tu 'l Jauf 
 
 Bar-ja-sI-ya . 
 Bashi-bazouk 
 
 Ba-t1n 
 
 Beg .... 
 
 Bey . 
 Bi-l1kh . 
 
 Bil-kis . 
 Bint 
 
 BiNTU A'MM 
 BiR . 
 
 BiSHR 
 BUH-THA . 
 
 Bu-khA-r1 
 
 BUNN 
 BU-RAI-DA 
 
 BUSSORAH, for Bas-ra [Sin- 
 bad's " Bidsorah "]. 
 For page references v. In- 
 dex ii. 
 
 An important division of the Ahlu 'SH SHI-MAL {q. v.) 
 Burckhardt says : " The manly persons, broad features, and 
 thick beards of the Ba-nu Sakhr are no proofs of Bedouin 
 origin ; yet they pride themselves on being the only descen- 
 dants of Ba-nu A'bs, an ancient Najd tribe, famous in Bedouin 
 history." {Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 15, vol. i. p. 23.) 
 
 \_Race of Yas.'\ A seaboard people of Oman, p. 100. [In 
 Arabic the myrtle is As. Our jasmine, or jessamine, is in 
 Arabic and Persian yd-sim, yd-sa-man, et yd-sa-mtn?\ 
 
 Horse-breeders of N.W. Al jAZfRA, pp. 75, 272, 273. 
 
 A Bedouin term for what we should call half-bred horses, 
 p. 272 f n. 2. 
 
 A well-oasis, near Zu-bair, p. 212. 
 
 [In the Turkish army, the " Bdshi-bd.zuk " soldiery are those 
 whose dress and equipments are not uniform.] P. 188. 
 
 A term of the Arab, and especially of the Bedouin, geo- 
 graphy, p. 75 f n. I. 
 
 [Fem. Beo-atu.] A Tatar word for lord, which the Mon- 
 gols, or Mughals, carried into India, and the Osmanlis into 
 Arabia. In the latter country, in towns, as Beg, and in the 
 desert, as Bej, it supplies a title of respect for Europeans. In 
 Africa, it is softened into Bey. Pp. 149, 295. 
 
 Pp. 152, 282. 
 
 A sister affluent with the Kha-bur, (on the left) of the 
 Euphrates, in N. Al Ja-zi-ra, pp. 75, 82, in f.n. i, 272. 
 
 The name of a Queen of the kingdom of Sa-ba, p. 27. 
 
 [A daughter ?\^ V. IBN. As entering into epithets, p. 34 
 f.n. I. 
 
 Daughter of a paternal zmcle, p. 94. 
 
 [A pit, usually one at the bottom of which there is water.] 
 The name of a very old town on the eastern bank of the 
 Upper Euphrates, p. 74. 
 
 A collective name for certain divisions of the Aeniza, pp. 
 39 fn. I, 126. 
 
 Bovine antelope of Najd, p. 145 f.n. i. 
 
 The celebrated Muslim jurist , quoted, p. xii of pre- 
 fixes of volume, fn. 2. 
 
 \^An aromatic odour, as of a sheepfold or a cattle-pen.'] The 
 coffee-plant, and berry, p. no fn. 2. 
 
 One of the two great clay townships of Middle Najd. The 
 population may be 5000 ; comprising merchants and cara- 
 vaners {v. Agel) to whom every town and trade-route equally 
 in peninsular and N. Arabia are known, pp. 32 f.n. i, 210. 
 
 \^Soft ground, esp. such as glistens v/ith gypsum, or other 
 whiteness.'] The well-known open port, about seventy miles 
 above the Persian Gulf, on the Ottoman (western) bank of 
 the Shattu 'l A'rab {q. v.) A considerable emporium of 
 commerce, and a date-garden both of Europe and America. 
 2 u 
 
338 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 BUSSORAH — continued. 
 
 Btr-STAN . 
 
 But-lI-ya 
 
 The present city is modern. The old city (founded A.D. 636 
 by the Caliph O'mar) stood on a canal S.W. from the present 
 site. Bussorah must not be confounded with Bostra, Bozra, 
 or Buzra, Trajan's capital of Roman Arabia (now a ruin), 
 on the Damascus Hajj road. 
 
 \_Place of fragrance, i.e. a garden.] The title of a classical 
 Persian poem, quoted p. 114 f.n. i. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 Cairo 
 For page 
 dex ii. 
 
 ChAr-dak 
 
 Chol 
 
 references v. In- 
 
 A very ancient name for Egypt and for its capital city is 
 Misr ; and the title of the capital is Al Kd-hi-ra (meaning, 
 Victrix, Augusta, and the like), which Europeans have short- 
 ened into Cairo. 
 
 [Persian, Char tdk, four pillars^ The name, with the 
 Osmanli and the Persians, of the summer kiosks, supported 
 on pillars, and open towards the cool quarters, in which the 
 sultry hours are spent, p. 81. 
 
 \Not Arabic] Used in El I'-rak as "jungle" is in India, 
 p. 19. 
 
 D 
 
 Dah-man 
 [Ad] Dah-na . 
 Dah-wa . 
 
 Da-i'r 
 
 Daj-ja-ni 
 
 Da-kh1l . 
 
 Pp. 36, 37 fn. 3. 
 
 The name of a strain in the stock of Ku-hai-lan, Table 
 p. 235 col. vi., et V. Table of Colours, p. 262. 
 
 The great southern desert of the Arabian peninsula, pp. 
 
 25. 34> 37- 
 
 The name of a sub-strain of the stock of Ku-hai-lan, 
 Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-sa, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 [Keeping to the tent, familiar.'] (A rd-zvi-a uses the word 
 for trained or dojuestic hounds.) The name of a strain in Al 
 Kham-sa, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 Guest is but an inadequate rendering of this essentially 
 Arabian word. Lit., it means, one who enters ; and specially, 
 one luho enters into the protection of another. There are various 
 acts by the doing of which, according to the ancient law of 
 the desert, a fugitive or a captive may render himself entitled 
 to the protection and hospitality of a tent or a tribe of the 
 Bedouin. It is interesting to notice how similar conditions 
 of life breed similar manners. Thus Dr Johnson saw, in a 
 castle wall in the Hebrides, an inscription intimating that " if 
 one of the clan Maclonich shall come at midnight with a 
 man's head in his hand, he shall there find safety and protec- 
 tion against all but the king." 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 339 
 
 Da-la-ma 
 Dal-lal . 
 
 DA-MA 
 
 P. 54- f.n. 2. 
 
 Da-ud 
 DA-tr-Di-YA 
 
 Daus 
 Dau-sar . 
 Da-war . 
 
 Da-wA-sir 
 
 Dem or Daim 
 Der . 
 
 Dervish, Dervise, 
 P. 45- 
 
 [^Multitude.'] Name of a subdivis. of the Aeniza, Table 
 
 p. 121. 
 
 An agent between two parties, p. 6g et f.n. i. 
 
 Draughts. The Arabian history of this game is unknown. 
 In Baghdad they play it with sixteen pieces a side, on a 
 board or table like that of chess. The pieces are larger 
 than those used in backgammon ; and they are not moved 
 diagonally, but straight to the front, and laterally. In Spain, 
 about the fifteenth century, chess was called Axedres de la 
 Daina. In the old classic speech of Scotland, the word for 
 draughts was " DAm." 
 
 The Arabic form of the proper name " David," p. io6. 
 
 About 400 square miles of El I'rak, between Kif-ri and 
 Su-lai-ma-ni-ya, are occupied by a clan of Kurds, calling 
 themselves Da-u-di-ya, after a legendary Kuraishite leader 
 named Da-ud ibn Su-lai-man. The wheat which these Kurds 
 produce is favourably known in the Baghdad market. At 
 the same time, they are far from peaceful ; and good colts 
 may be found among them. P. 284. 
 
 A saddle-gall, p. 142 f.n. i. 
 
 A grass of El I'rak, p. 82 fn. i. 
 
 The name of a horde of El I'rak, p. 84 f.n. i. 
 
 As the name of a region, p. 32 fn. i ; as that of a people, 
 p. 59 f.n. 2. 
 
 [From di-via, a lasting rain?[ P. 80 et {.x\. i. 
 
 \Paur, ddr, du-zvdr, der, all mean in Arabic z.\\y place where 
 people have alighted and tarried. In this sense the word has 
 travelled to India — ^._^., "Dera Is-ma-i'l Khan," the name of 
 a station ; and dera, a tent. Before Islam, the ra-hib — lit. 
 fearer, i.e. of God — lighted his taper in sequestered places 
 throughout Arabia,^ and dair was one of the names given to 
 his hermitage. See art. Ha-NIF, infra.'] 
 
 The Der of these pages (pp. 68, 69, 72 fn. i, 146, 150, 
 291, 300) is a settlement of the Arabs, and a military post 
 of the Osmanli (under Aleppo), on the upper portion of the 
 Euphrates. 
 
 Many different meanings, none of which are Arabian, 
 cluster round this word. The root idea is said to be beorzins 
 from door to door. Turkey abounds in Dervishes. In Persia 
 also, and Egypt, Central Asia, and India, there are many 
 varieties of this order ; " Pir," " Murshid," " Fa-kir," " Shekh," 
 and the like. The crowds who now visit Cairo make a point 
 of seeing its " Dancing Dervishes." The gyrations of these 
 votaries are in some schools held to represent or follow the 
 circling movement of the spheres ; and in others, the cen- 
 trifugal vibrations of hearts acted on by strong religious 
 
 ^ V. translation at p. 49, couplet 2. 
 
34° 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Dervish, Dervise — contimied. 
 
 " Dervish " 
 
 Dhabl . 
 Dhab-y . 
 Dha-fIr . 
 
 DHA-LtJL . 
 
 Dhi-a-la 
 
 Dhib-yan 
 Dhif-ra . 
 
 Dhin Im-n1' . 
 DhCt 'l fa-kar 
 
 DHt> Nu'As .... 
 DHtr 'r rum-ma 
 
 Di-ar eakr .... 
 
 Di-fa-fa' .... 
 [Ad] Dij-la .... 
 For page references v. TIGRIS 
 in Index ii. 
 
 Di-MiSHKU 'SH Sham : or, 
 shortly, Sham. 
 For page references v. DA- 
 MASCUS in Index ii. 
 
 Din 
 
 Di-RA 
 
 influences. But our countrymen should remember that all 
 such hare-brained cultivators of kaif, or religious quiescence, 
 passing into ecstasy or worse, and all pretenders to super- 
 natural powers and endowments, borrow most of their 
 doctrines from Gnostic and other Aryan sources. 
 
 The Arabian horse, portrait in group facing p. 252 ; 
 other references, pp. 165, 169 ei f.n. 2. 
 
 Fitness, or condition, in a horse, p. 143 f.n. 3. 
 
 One of the Antelope group, p. 145 f.n. i. 
 
 A Bedouin nation of the Lower Euphrates, pp. 59 f.n. 2, 
 
 83- 
 
 A " dromedary," or swift camel, one-humped, deep-chested, 
 
 large-quartered, and highly bred, pp. 56, 57- Cantata of the 
 
 Arabs about their dlia-h'd, p. 61, et v. f.n. 3 same page. 
 
 A river of El I'-rak ; about 400 miles long, from its rise in 
 Persia to its junction with the Tigris below Baghdad, pp. 79, 
 81, 82, 84 f.n. I, 278, 282. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 The place in the back of the camel's neck from which sweat 
 first exudes when the beast is working, p. 234. 
 
 The name of a subdivis. of the Aeniza, Table p. 121. 
 
 [Possessoi^ 0/ verte&7'(s.] A'li's famous sword was so named ; 
 possibly from its high temper and flexibility ; but more prob- 
 ably because scolloped at the edges, p. 239 f.n. 3. 
 
 The Himyarite king, p. 28. 
 
 [Endozued with wealth or fertility^ Name of a town in 
 Najd, p. 32 f.n. i. 
 
 A town of the Upper Tigris ; on the western bank of the 
 river, N.E. from Aleppo. [The ancient Amida.] P. 63. 
 
 A horde of Lower I'rak, p. 84 f.n. i. 
 
 This is the only name which we have ever heard given to 
 the Tigris by the people now dwelling on its banks. Ety- 
 mologists explain that the " Hiddekel " of Genesis, and the 
 form "Dij-la" are variants of one and the same name. For 
 Hid is but a prefix, meaning in the pre -Semitic language, 
 river ; and the Akkadian and Assyro-Babylonian forms are 
 Idigna, and Idiklat (or Diklat), respectively. In the Medo- 
 Persic language, Tig-ra means an arrow. 
 
 The well-known capital of Sham or Syria [Gen. xv. 2]. 
 Since A.D. 634, the city of Saladin has occupied a unique 
 place in El Islam, equally under the Caliphs, the Egyptian 
 Sultans, and the Turks. 
 
 An old word, denoting in El Is-LAM, Religion, in the 
 widest sense of the term, practical and doctrinal. V. art. 
 Is-LAM, infra. 
 
 [ V. Der, snpra.l Most of the divisions of the Bedouin have 
 certain recognised wells and pastures which are proper to 
 them ; and such constitute the tribe's di-ra, pp. 16, 21, 59- 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 341 
 
 DiR-A' 
 
 Dl-WAM 
 
 Di-WAN [or Di-vaiil 
 
 Dragoman 
 
 [Ad] Du-ghai-rat 
 
 Dugh-mAn 
 Du-KHi . 
 
 DU-LAIM . 
 
 DUL-DUL . 
 DU-NAIS . 
 
 DU-RAI-I'-YA 
 
 DiiZ Khur-mA-tu 
 
 A warrior's jerkin, of mail or leather, p. 104 f.n. i. [The 
 first meaning of dir-a! is the long shirt which the Arab 
 women wear. Im-ra-u '1 Kais depicts a growing maiden as 
 " between the dir-a! and the mij-ival" The latter is the 
 shorter garment, in which the little girls run about. Thus 
 the Arab poet expresses the same idea as that conveyed in 
 the lines by Longfellow — 
 
 " Standing with reluctant feet 
 Where the brook and river meet. 
 Womanhood and childhood fleet." ] 
 
 [Root-idea, stability.'] The name of a subdivis. of the Sba', 
 Table p. 121, 298. 
 
 An Aryan word, which is now diffused over Central Asia 
 and Persia, Turkey, India, Arabia, and parts of Africa. The 
 following are some of its meanings : — A list or roll. An ii?i- 
 perial council. President of such, whence vizier or minister. 
 A Jiall of audience or assembly. In India, under the E.I. Co., 
 the body of superior native officers; whence the revenue and 
 financial administration. Still more curiously, a rotatory 
 dance of sun-worshippers. Out of the first of these senses 
 there comes that in which the word occurs at pp. 49 f.n. i, 
 179 fn. I — viz., a series of poems ; while at p. 161 it signifies 
 a Turkish official's rooi/i. In Europe it often means a 
 cafe. 
 
 Some identify this word with tar-ju-mdn, which, though 
 post-classical, is included in Arabic dictionaries, with the 
 meaning of translator, p. 297. 
 
 [PL of dii-ghair, one zvho rushes, esp. to snatch a thing.] A 
 subdivis. of the Sham-mar, p. 122. 
 
 The name of a horde of the Ru-\va-la Aeniza, Table p. 121. 
 
 The name of a strain of Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 A Bedouin nation of the Euphrates, whose pastures begin 
 about three days N.W. of Baghdad, pp. 84 f.n. i, 85. 
 
 The name of one of the Prophet's riding-mules, p. 230. 
 
 \Grimy.'\ The sobriquet of a well-known family in the 
 Aeniza, from whom the name has passed to a strain of Al 
 Kham-SA for which their tents are noted, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 [From Dir-a', q. v. sipra.] The first capital of the Wahabite 
 empire, pp. 58, 162, 164. [Instead of rebuilding the city of 
 A'bdu '1 Wah-hab's preaching after its demolition (18 18) by 
 Egyptian soldiers, the inhabitants transferred themselves to 
 Ar Ri-adh {q. v.), four miles off". Only soil-bound cultivators 
 remained behind in date-gardens amid the broken walls and 
 fortifications.] 
 
 A small town on the post-road between Baghdad and 
 Mosul, p. 84 fn. I. 
 
342 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Fad-dA-gha . 
 
 Fahd 
 
 Fai-sal . 
 FAl . 
 
 Fa-laj [pi. Af-laj] 
 
 Fa-lat . . . . 
 
 Fal-lah [pi. Fal-ld-hhi] 
 
 Fal-lu-ja 
 
 Fan-tas . . . . 
 
 Fa-ras . . . . 
 
 Fa-rat . . . . 
 
 Far-han . . . ■ . 
 
 Fa-ris . . . . 
 
 Fendi 
 
 Fez 
 
 [For/^j.] 
 
 Fid-a'n 
 
 [Root-meaning, pounding, or mauling^ A subdivis. of the 
 Sham-mar, p. 122 et f.n. 5. 
 
 The Lynx. Shekh Fahd, of the Ibn Hadh-dhal Arabs, 
 p. 83. Remarks on the use ol fahd zs a proper name by the 
 Bedouin Arabs, p. 107. 
 
 [One who divides, adjudicates, governs?[ Amir Fai-sal of 
 Najd, pp. 36, 40, 42, 103 f.n. i, 250, 251, 261. 
 
 An omen, p. 54 f.n. 2. [In the East, it is chiefly among 
 educated Arab Muslim of the strict Kuranic school that 
 exceptional persons who absolutely repudiate omens are 
 met with. The masses of the people are still liable, after 
 overcoming every moral and prudential consideration against 
 an undertaking, to be turned back from it by the cry of 
 a night - bird, the braying of an ass, or the advice of a 
 mulla.] 
 
 A labyrinthine and fertile tract in Najd, pp. 32 f n. i, 98 f n. 3. 
 
 The empty desert, p. 19. 
 
 [Root-meaning, /'/o?/o-/^;«_o-.] Peasantry, p. 15. 
 
 As a name for peasant settlements, p. 98 f.n. 3. 
 
 P. 150 eti.n. 2, 152. 
 
 Generically, the horse ; in El I'rak, restricted to the mare, 
 p. 238 f.n. 2. 
 
 {Outstripping?^ The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, 
 Table p. 235 col. v. 
 
 \_Joyous?\ A name much given by the Bedouin equally to 
 their boys and to their colts. The late Shekh Far-han, of 
 the Sham-mar, pp. 72, 122 fn. 5, 125. 
 
 [Horseman?^ A proper name among the Bedouin. Refer- 
 ences to the present Shekh Fa-ris of the Sham-mar, pp. 72 
 et f.n. I, 122, 125, 129. [The idea in fd-ris corresponds with 
 that of cavalier. The title is only applicable to a liur, i.e. a 
 gentleman and armiger^ 
 
 Has the same meaning as fa-kJiidh, i.e., a limb, branch, or 
 family group, within a horde or clan, p. 122. 
 
 The red, or white, round woollen cap which the Osmanli 
 wear. The Arabs, when they assume the fez, wind a turban 
 round it. The European employees of the Porte wear the 
 fez at official receptions. As a head-dress for horsemen, 
 when solar heat and glare are not in question, the fez is as 
 superior to most kinds of hats and helmets, as it is to the 
 desert Arab's kerchief and rope-twist. It seldom falls off, 
 except when the rider does so. P. 7i- 
 
 {Distorted, or deformed, at the zvrist, or ankle-joint, or at 
 both^ The name of an important divis. of the Aeniza, 
 Table p. 121 ; pp. 126. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 343 
 
 FlHR 
 
 [Al] Furat .... 
 For page references v. Eu- 
 phrates in Index ii. 
 
 The Ku-raish {q. v.) are also called "Al Fihr" (p. ii6); 
 but the latter name particularly designates those of the Ku- 
 raish who, instead of being settled in Mecca, occupied the 
 surrounding country. 
 
 The prestige and beauty of this river are most impressive. 
 Reckoning the two-branched upper part, it is about 1600 miles 
 long, from Erzeroum and Lake Van, to where, after meeting 
 the Tigris, it falls into the Persian Sea. In parts of its course, 
 inhabited islands, not unstudded with ancient ruined castles, 
 rise out of its bed. The Arabs think that no other river 
 contains such wholesome water. In Al Yi\ir-B.n,fu-rdt is used 
 (S. XXXV.), not as the name of a river, but, epithetically, to 
 distinguish potable from salt or brackish water.^ 
 
 Ga-a'-ji-ba 
 
 Gal-la . 
 P. 160. 
 
 The name of a horde of the Ru-wa-la Aeniza, Table p. 
 
 Gan-ji-fa 
 
 Gan-ta-ra Khaz-ga 
 Ga-sa-ib . 
 [For ka-sd-ib.'] 
 
 121. 
 
 The Gallas constitute an important part of the population 
 of Abyssinia and Eastern Africa. Above all things they 
 are warriors, and they are infinitely divided into hostile 
 tribal nations. Their cults are full of interest to the student 
 of religions. During many centuries, both Italian priests and 
 Arabian teachers have lived among them, and they now ex- 
 hibit variegated layers of Paganism, Christianity, and Islamism. 
 The WoUo Gallas to the north of Magdala who lent their 
 services to our Abyssinian expedition, save in that they lived 
 under a female sovereign, resembled Sunnite Arabs.^ 
 
 Cards, p. 54 f.n. 2. These are probably of xA.siatic origin. 
 Strict Muslim condemn them, because of the Prophet's pro- 
 hibition of gaming. But the crowd is not so nice. From the 
 China Sea to the Mediterranean the "devil's picture-books" 
 make life's wheels move faster. 
 
 The name of a spot on the Euphrates, p. 67 et f.n. 2. 
 
 [PI. of ka-si-ba, anything cut, or jointed, e.g. a reed.] The 
 plaited locks of the Bedouin, which hang free like whip- 
 lashes, p. 29. [The Abyssinian ties back the hair in ridges 
 and furrows, and walks out with no other covering on the 
 crown than a pat of butter [Psal. cxxxiii. 2]. The Arab 
 omits the butter ; but he divides his hair crossways, and 
 twists it into four spiral tresses.] 
 
 ^ When the Assyrians first saw "the great water," it was 
 called, in the older Akkadian language, " Bu-rdt," or " Pu- 
 rdt ; " which they made into Pti-rat-tu. The Persians modi- 
 fied this form into "Ufratu," whence the Gr. "Euphrates." 
 
 - Long before Islam, in the hereditary monarchies of 
 South Arabia, as a rule the son followed the father ; but 
 
 e.xceptionally, queens also succeeded to the sceptre. Much 
 as the Arab Prophet did to improve the status of women, 
 the principle on which his commonwealth was founded ex- 
 cluded the idea of female sovereignty. Tradition even 
 ascribes to him the "Saying," That people never prospered 
 whose affairs were ordered by a woman. 
 
344 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Ga-sir 
 Ga-wa-ji-ba 
 
 Gha-bit . 
 
 Gha-dhA . 
 Ghai-lAn 
 Ghai-tha 
 Gha-zal . 
 
 Gha-za-la 
 GhA-z1 
 
 [Al] Ghaz-u . . . . 
 For page references v. Raid- 
 ing in Index ii. 
 
 Ghu-bai-yin . 
 
 Ghur-ra . 
 Go-mi-ya . 
 
 Grane 
 
 GURNA . 
 
 [Correctly Kiirna?^ 
 
 V. art. Ka-SIR. 
 
 The name of a horde of the Ru-wa-la Aeniza, Table p. 
 
 121. 
 
 At p. 49 ct f n. 3, a place-name. At p. 234 f.n. 4, the lower 
 part of the camel-saddle. 
 
 A camel-shrub of the genus Euphorbia, p. 36. 
 
 A wind of the desert, p. 6^ et f n. i. 
 
 [7?«/«.] The name of a subdivis. of the Sham-mar, p. 122. 
 
 The x'\rabian and Persian antelope \Gazelld\. The Antilope 
 Dorcas of naturalist.s, p. 145 fn. i. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 One who takes part in the Ghaz-u, q. v. A small gold 
 coin is so called, after Mah-mud II. (styled Gha-zi), one of 
 the few modern Osmanli Sultans (1808- 1839) who have dis- 
 played ruler-like qualities. Illustration facing p. 136. 
 
 \_Aiming at a thing?\ A plundering expedition. The 
 ^' ba-ran-ta" oi \h% Turkumans. In some Muslim countries, 
 the epithet GhA-z1 has been specialised, in the sense of 
 fighter in the cause of religion ; but this meaning is foreign 
 to the Arabian Bedouin. In El Islam the first war adven- 
 tures were expeditions against caravans, e.g. the " RAID OF 
 BiDR," A.H. 2. 
 
 \Overreaching another in a bargain^ The name of a sub- 
 divis. of the Fid-a'n Aeniza, Table p. 121. 
 
 A " blaze " on a horse's forehead, p. 61 et f n. 2. 
 
 \Belonging to an enemy?[ The name of a strain of the 
 stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 V. Ku-WAIT. 
 
 [From a root which means connecting, or conjoining?^ The 
 name of the place, about forty miles above Bussorah, where 
 the Tigris and the Euphrates unite their waters, pp. 20, 84 
 f.n. I, 85. 
 
 Ha-ba-shi 
 
 Ha-da-l1 . 
 
 H 
 
 Abyssinian, p. 107 fn. 3. [The Semitic root of Abys- 
 sinia, or Habessinia, is said to imply admixture or collection. 
 A large number of kidnapped Abyssinians of both sexes, 
 chiefly Gallas {q. v), pass through Jedda, Suez, and Muscat, 
 into all the countries of Asia, where, in thousands of fami- 
 lies, they become happily domesticated. Their brown com- 
 plexions and straight and regular Caucasian features render 
 them incomparably more pleasant inmates than their woolly- 
 pated and bituminous black congeners.] The breed of 
 ponies called the Habashi, p. 136 f.n. 2. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 
 col. i. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 345 
 
 Had-ban . 
 
 Ha-dha-ri 
 
 Hadh-dhAl 
 [Al] Hadhr 
 
 Hadh-ra-maut 
 Ha-d1d . 
 
 Ha-dith . 
 
 [PL A-M-dith^ 
 
 Had-ra-ji 
 
 [For the mare, Had-ra-jta?\ 
 Ha-f1 .... 
 
 HA-FIR .... 
 
 The name of one of the Five primary divisions of the 
 stoclv of Al Kham-sa, Table p. 235 col. v., et p. 298. [In a 
 simile in Im-ra-u '1 Kais' poem, comparing the tit-bits of camel's 
 fat on which a party of gallants feasted to the unwoven ends 
 of a piece of Damascus silk, the word used for the silky fila- 
 ments is from the same root as had-bdn. As a name for 
 a line of horses, Had-ban perhaps has reference to some 
 such feature as long forelocks, or long eyelashes.'] 
 
 [Belonging to the hadJir, i.e., the demarcated, and more or 
 less cultivated, country.] The opposite of Ba-DA-w!. Pp. 
 IS, 16, 52,97, 133, 270. 
 
 The name of a horde of the Aeniza, pp. 83, 107. 
 
 [Apparently a survival among the Arabs of the Roman 
 proper name Hatra, Atra, or Atrae.] The ruins of " Al 
 Hadhr," in Al Jazira, prepare a surprise for travellers. 
 An imposing panorama of tolerably well-preserved palaces, 
 temples, tombs, and reservoirs, now presents itself on the 
 site of a city believed to have been the capital, down to our 
 fourth century, of an Aramaean principality of the Palmyra 
 type which was tributary to the Parthian empire. Hatra 
 repulsed Trajan (A.D. 116), and eighty - two years later, 
 Severus. The wild animals of the desert now pass freely 
 over it. P. 75, 282 fn. i. 
 
 \Deatlis presence : from the severity of the climate.] The 
 southern coast district of Arabia, pp. 25, 29, 32, 97 fn. 3. 
 
 Iron. At p. 311, the iron shackles which the Arabs put 
 round their horses' fore-pasterns. 
 
 Literally, tidings, or traditional information. Then, specially, 
 a tradition of what the Prophet said or did, handed down by 
 word of mouth, as distinguished from the written KuR-AN. 
 The Ha-dIth, or " Saying," which adorns our title-page is 
 translated, p. 158. Other references to "Sayings," pp. 20 
 et f.n. 3, 38, 81 f.n. i, 93 ^^' f.n. i, 115 fn. 3, 128 et f.n. 2, 135 
 et f n. 2, 162 f.n. 2, 230 f n. i. 
 
 The name of a strain of the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table 
 p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 SJJnshod?^ The name of a strain of the stock of Ku-HAI- 
 LAN, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 [Diggei:] The horny box in which the horse's foot is en- 
 closed, p. II. [In Saxon, /lo/ et Jwfe ; Dutch, hoef ; Norw. 
 and Dan. liov ; Gr. hople. In the Icelandic language, which 
 of all the existing Teutonic dialects has retained the greatest 
 number of old forms with the least alteration, the word for 
 hoof is hofr.'] ^ 
 
 ^ Those who are bent on discovering a ' ' language of 
 Eden," or one primeval linguistic stem of which equally the 
 Indo-European and the Semitic groups of languages are 
 
 offshoots, may add "hofr" to their list of illustrations. A 
 stock example of the same kind is earth (German, erde), 
 which is ard in Arabic ; and many otlier examples might be 
 
 2 X 
 
346 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Ha-fiz 
 
 Pp. 54 f.n. 2, 1 1 8. 
 
 Hagar . . 
 
 Hai .... 
 
 Hai-dar {Hydei') A'LI 
 
 HAI-Fi . 
 
 Ha-ja-rat Khaz-ga 
 Hajj . . . 
 
 Ha-lab . 
 Ha-lA-w1 
 
 HA-LtjJ . 
 
 Ha-ma 
 
 Ha-m1d 
 
 \Keeper, or preserver^ The sobriquet, which passes for 
 name, of the famous Persian poet, Muhammad Shamsu 'd din, 
 of our 14th century. In Persia and India, one who has com- 
 mitted Al Kur-AN to viemory (a feat discountenanced by the 
 stricter Arabian Muslim as savouring of formalism) receives 
 the title of " Ha-fiz." 
 
 [From a Semitic root meaning separation, as from one's 
 home and country.] The Egyptian girl (the Arabian tradi- 
 tionalists write her name Hd-Jar) of whom was born Ishmael, 
 pp. 100, 115, 116. 
 
 The name of a small branch of the Tigris, in Lower I'rak, 
 pp. 84 f.n. I, 85. 
 
 \c. 1702-82.] The son of a petty officer of the native Hindu 
 government of Mysore, who, through innate aptitude for 
 war, and the utmost energy, raised himself to sovereignty, 
 and, aided by his son Tippoo, contested with us the mastery 
 of India. P. 95. 
 
 l^Drawii fine, from work.] The name of a strain in Al 
 Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 A place-name, p. 6'j fn. 2. 
 
 The pilgrimage to Mecca, p. 37. One who performs the 
 Hajj is designated a HAj, which is softened into Haj-JI, pp. 
 176, 301. [The Turks, Persians, and Indians change Haj-jt 
 into Ha-ji. 
 
 [Mi/k.] The Arabs thus write the place-name which we 
 write Aleppo ; S7^i? qjw, V. page references in Index ii. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-sa, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 [Flashing, as lightning does.] The name of a strain in Al 
 Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 [Hamath of the Bible.] One of the oldest cities of Syria, 
 on the Orontes, about 100 miles north of Damascus, pp. 211, 
 212. 
 
 The desert, pp. 19, 65, Gj, 83, 105. \_Ham-ma-da is the 
 name used to designate the flintier segments of the great 
 African Sahara [v. art. Sah-Ra], the vastness of which, even 
 when the view is not carried east of the Nile, is estimated at 
 between three and four millions of square miles — nearly equal 
 to all Europe, minus the Scandinavian peninsula and Iceland.] 
 
 cited. Of course, words which are imitations of sounds 
 must be more or less similar wherever they occur. It is also 
 easy to trace how the gipsies, the crusaders, the Moorish con- 
 querors of Spain, and the Greek philosophy have contribut- 
 ed to the process of word-diffusion. But there is no connec- 
 tion between these facts and the endeavour to derive Aryan 
 and Semitic from a common source. Until the secret of the 
 Semitic root shall have been discovered, all such attempts 
 rest upon air. The mystery of the Semitic languages is that, 
 with comparatively few exceptions, every word either con- 
 sists of, or proceeds out of, three letters (consonants), neither 
 
 more nor less. The Jews and the Arabs of ten centuries ago 
 made a good deal of grammar, but they did not make the 
 triliteral root. A Sanscrit root may consist of a single 
 vowel, or of consonants and vowels in varied combinations ; 
 but the triconsonantal root of Semite language, as historically 
 known, is as firmly moulded as if it had been created out of 
 moist earth, at the same time with the camel. The science 
 of comparative philology is still in its infancy ; and a sure 
 means of retarding it is to compare words and lexicons, when 
 we ought to be comparing structural and grammatical char- 
 acters. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 347 
 
 [Al] Ha-MA-SA . . . [Literally, _;?r«272^i-j as against an enemy; and figuratively, 
 
 poetic genius.'] A collection of 884 poetical pieces, chiefly 
 pre-Islamic or early Islamic, which was brought together, 
 about two centuries after Muhammad, by Ha-bib ibii Ausi 
 't Ta-i, commonly called Abu Tam-mam, himself a prac- 
 tised lyrist. As a storehouse of ancient legend, and mirror 
 of Arabian life and manners, the Ha-mA-SA ranks with the 
 Mu-a'l-la-kat {q. V.) Verses by a poet of Al Ha-ma-Sa 
 translated, p. 43. 
 
 Ha-MA-WAND .... The name of a small horde of Kurds, p. 282. 
 
 HAM-DA-Nt .... The name of one of the five primary divisions of the stock 
 
 [For mare, Hain-dd-ni-ya?[ of Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. iv. 
 
 Ham-HA-MA .... In a translation from A'n-tar's poem, at p. 221, a whinny- 
 
 ing sound, softer than neighing, which horses make. 
 
 Ham TI-JA-RA, ham ZI-A-RA . A Persian proverb : as we should say, The making of a bar- 
 
 gain at the cliHvcJi door, p. 116. 
 
 Ha-NIF ..... The importance of this word to students of Arabian topics 
 
 P. loi. depends on the following facts. Professor Max Muller says 
 
 of El Is-lam that it " springs, as far as its most vital doctrines 
 are concerned, from the ancient fountain-head of the religion 
 of Abraham, the worshipper and friend of the one true God." ^ 
 Now, Al Kur-an six times styles Abraham a " Ha-nif." In 
 five other passages the same epithet is applied to the Patriarch's 
 religious attitude, in turning from idols to the " Allahu 'r 
 RAHMANU 'r RA-HIM " of Islamism. And it is needless to 
 observe that the Arab Prophet, in calling Abraham a " Ha- 
 nif," called himself one. Out of all this, a plentiful crop of 
 questions issues. Ha-nif, we know, was an established word 
 in Semitic language long before Muhammad. It occurs in 
 the Talmud, with the meaning of " hypocrite." Clearly, Mu- 
 hammad cannot have used it in that sense. But, first, did he 
 " bring it in " as a weird expression, borrowed from a foreign 
 source ; or was it current among the Arabs, before his period, 
 with a special religious application ? As far as this point is 
 concerned, the best authorities are now agreed that the 
 Arabian Ha-nifs are historical ; that is, that before Muham- 
 mad, and especially towards his era, there lived, in Medina 
 and elsewhere, Arabs who, because of their religious earnest- 
 ness and their rejection of polytheism, were called by others, 
 if they did not call themselves, " Ha-nifs." But this does not 
 inform us who these "private judgment" people were ; or in 
 how far the representation is justifiable, that a traditional 
 "faith of Abraham" had been preserved by them during the 
 pagan ages. Without professing to solve these difificulties, we 
 are tempted to place them alongside of a familiar passage of 
 history. It is not unusual for Protestant writers to describe 
 
 ' Introduction to the Science of Religion, p. 103. 
 
348 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Ha-NIF — continued. 
 
 Ha-ra-ka .... 
 
 Ha-ram 
 
 For the European form, 
 "harem," v. pp. 17 f.n. i, 
 47 f.n. 2, 103 fn. I. For 
 "Ha-ram" in the sense 
 of holy, V. p. 116 : also a 
 slightly different form of 
 the same epithet, in art. 
 Mas - jiDU 'l ha - ram, 
 infra. 
 
 the Mystics of Germany and Holland as precursors of the 
 Reformation. Perhaps they were so ; but not in the sense 
 that they saw any glimmering of the light which afterwards 
 dawned on Luther. And so in regard to the Ha-nifs. How- 
 ever helpful some of them may have been to Muhammad 
 when his own mental life was at its crisis, and however con- 
 siderably the body of the Ha-nifs {"Al Hu-na-fd ") may in the 
 course of time have given their adherence to his formulated 
 system, established facts are opposed to the conclusion that 
 the source of Islam was among them. The European reader 
 must not imagine that the Hu-na-fa composed a regular 
 " Sect." Many divergent types both of thought and action 
 may be traced among them. For example, the Arabian 
 anchoret, or "ra-hib," to whom a slight reference occurred 
 in art. Der, stipra, if he was not a " Ha-nif," was at least 
 tinctured with Hanifite ideas. Muhammad himself, accord- 
 ing to unanimous tradition, as part of the ordeal through 
 which he passed before he assumed his mission, was wont 
 to spend the truce month, Ra-jab, in solitary devotional 
 meditation (ta-Jian-mitJi) ^ in the clefts of Mount Har-ra over 
 against Mecca. Before his time, many of the Hu-na-fa had 
 even carried asceticism far enough to lead the populace to 
 associate them with those Christian monks ^ who exalted 
 celibacy from a mere feature of the hermit life to the rank 
 of a religious virtue (Matt. xix. 12 ; i Cor. vii.) 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235, 
 col. i. 
 
 This word is much used to denote the precincts which, 
 under the polygamous system, are in the excbisive occupancy 
 of the female division of the hojiseJiold. In Persia the cor- 
 responding term is san-d-na ; and in Europe, seraglio. By 
 metonymy, the same words mean the inmates of those pre- 
 cincts. The root-idea in Iirm is, prohibited ; but it yields 
 many other meanings, ranging between that of sacred, 
 inviolable, holy, and that of a tiling to be abstained from, as 
 is, e.g., swine's flesh under Judaism and Islamism. Thus 
 does ha-ram contain two seemingly divergent ideas — that of 
 holy, and that of tabooed (popularly, "abominable" v. Isaiah 
 
 1 There is good old Arabic authority to support the view 
 that ha-ntf and ta-lian-mith claim a common root. Some 
 Eastern scholars derive ha-nif iroxa ha-na-fa, which is purely 
 Arabic, and means to incline, or deviate. The proper name 
 Ha-ni-fa existed in pagan Arabia. A nation so called held, 
 we know, the mountainous heart of Najd, till a soldier of 
 Islam broke them in a sanguinary battle. The name of the 
 same people still lives in "Wa-di Ha-ni-fa," one of the 
 winding passes which lead to the Wahabite capital. But 
 these facts do not affect the explanation that the Ha-nifs of 
 Arabia took their appellation from ta-han-mtth, which 
 occurs in the Bible in the sense of Prayers. 
 
 - The friar, or celibate ecclesiastic, of pre-Reformation 
 times, is termed in Al ICur-an a "rd-hib." The Arab 
 Prophet perceived only the worst features of monachism. 
 He held strongly, like Bacon after him, that "wife and 
 children are a discipline in humanity ; bachelors are morose 
 and austere. " It is unnecessary to quote the severe animad- 
 versions on the state of being a Ra-hib, and on the Ra-hibs 
 themselves, which Al Kur-an contains, as in Sii-ras ix. etWii. 
 " Ra-hib " is pure Arabic, and is now confined to literature. 
 A Christian "priest," or cleric of ordinary rank, is called by 
 the modern Arabs a kass, or kis-sh, a Syriac word signifying 
 Elder. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 349 
 
 Ha-RAM — continued. 
 
 Harb 
 
 Ha-RIK . 
 HA-RiSH . 
 
 Ixv. 4) ; but the explanation is simple. The word trans- 
 lated " unclean " of the Levitical prohibition here, as else- 
 where, produces a confusion of ideas. In the pig's case, for 
 example, it is generally assumed that his disgusting habits 
 caused the eating of him to be interdicted by primitive law- 
 givers. It appears more probable that the prohibition in 
 question points to the time when numerous animals were 
 exclusively appropriated to the gods. Interesting facts bear- 
 ing on this subject are to be observed in El I'rak. At 
 Mosul, where we are at this moment writing, the Osmanli 
 cavalry soldiers allow a pet pig to run about their barrack- 
 yard, under the superstition that evil spirits will enter it, 
 and not the horses.^ Again, the name for whooping-cough 
 in Arabic is khi-nai-zi-ra, sc. pigs cougJi ; for which dis- 
 temper water from a pig's drinking-trough is held to be a 
 sound prescription. An English resident of Baghdad keeps a 
 pig-stye in his garden. On our asking him whether his Muslim 
 neighbours did not object to his doing so, his answer was, 
 that, on the contrary, he found it difficult to exclude those 
 of them who desired to procure cupfuls of the water for 
 patients in their harems ! And lastly, in the country of the 
 Tigris, not only Shi-ites, but even Sun-nis of the less educated 
 classes, adorn the necks of their mares with amulets made 
 of boars' tushes. Such facts as these deserve to be considered 
 in connection with Muhammad's prohibition of swine's flesh. 
 In none of the passages of Al Kur-AN which lay down 
 the law on this point is any reason given. The Prophet, 
 in certain of his " Sayings," affixed to the pig the word 
 which is used to denote the " impurity " of the dog. But we 
 know that the dog also was treated as an object of worship 
 by many nations of antiquity. A Muslim merchant from 
 Egypt lately described to us with horror, and, it may be 
 hoped, not without exaggeration, how the ancestral canine 
 guards of Cairo are now being done to death by " scientific" 
 methods. 
 
 The name of a great confederation of the Bedouin, whose 
 di-ras extend from about Medina eastward, pp. 39 fn. i, 59 
 fn. 2, 127, 217 fn. I. 
 
 The name of a large oasis, on the borders of the great 
 southern desert of Najd, p. 32 fn. i. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. iii. 
 
 ' A familiar Gospel story has for its basis the special eligi- 
 bility of the pig to form the receptacle of devils. Among 
 the many kind things which the Sun-ni says of the Shi-i' in 
 El I'rak is, that when they die they are changed into pigs, 
 and sent back to their old haunts. To illustrate the value 
 of testimony in such matters, it may be mentioned that in 
 Baghdad, in the present year of grace, any one who is not 
 
 an official could, we feel assured, find witnesses who, without 
 having a set purpose to deceive, should make affirmation 
 that, to the certain knowledge of themselves or others, well- 
 known Shi-ite townsmen have shortly after their death and 
 burial been seen reposing in porcine form in their recently 
 vacated summer-houses, or perhaps grubbing for roots in 
 the garden ! 
 
350 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Ha-r1sh — continued. 
 
 Har-ma . 
 Har-ran 
 
 Ha-runu 'r ra-shid 
 
 [Al] Ha-sa 
 [PL Ak-sdr[ 
 
 Ha-san 
 
 Ha-san bin badr 
 
 HA-SHiSH 
 
 Has-san . 
 Ha-tim . 
 
 Haub 
 
 Hau-daj . 
 
 [A camel-master of Mosul says that ha-rish means having the 
 lips excoriated. The camel's gullet can pass down thorns 
 from which the horny sole of the same animal flinches. But 
 both in the mare and the camel the upper lip is apt to be 
 wounded in cropping the acacias of the desert.] 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-sa, Table p. 235 col. iii. 
 
 The " Haran " of Genesis ; and see Ezek. xxvii. 23. P. 1 1 1 
 et fn. I. [In Assyro-Babylonian, Har-ran means road, and 
 the city of Har-ran is often mentioned in the cuneiform 
 literature.] 
 
 Ha-run, the Kuranic transcription of Aaron ; ra-shid, v. in 
 this Index. The " Haroun Alraschid," 5th Abbaside Caliph 
 of Baghdad (last quarter of 8th Christian century), whose 
 strolls incognito through his capital are immortalised in the 
 Arabian Nights. P. 98. 
 
 The well-known Arabian province on the Persian Gulf, 
 pp. 29, 30 et f.n. 2, 31, 48, 99 f.n. 4, 293, 294. [The name de- 
 notes, Ground on zvhich zvater collects ; or, acciinmlated sand 
 beneath which is hard ground, so that when the sand is scraped 
 away, tlie water that has rained on it is found.'[ 
 
 {Beautiful^ An exceedingly common proper name among 
 the Arabs. A'li's eldest son, and nominal successor in the 
 Caliphate, bore it. 
 
 The Arab horse-dealer, p. 309. 
 
 Fodder. The same word yields a name (in Baghdad, "ha- 
 shi-sha ") for an intoxicant obtained from the hemp-plant, 
 the Indian preparations of which are bhang, ganja, and cha- 
 ras. P. 82 f.n. i. Et v. art. Alamut, supra. 
 
 A horse-dealer [lit., one zvho is constantly occupied zvith the 
 hisdn, or horse], p. 123 fn. i. 
 
 A name or title in which is the idea ol judging. In Arabia 
 the fountain of power is still that of judgment, or justice. 
 Accordingly, Hatim is the equivalent of Amir, or Shekh. V. 
 p. 62 f.n. 2, a reference to the famous Arabian Hatim. 
 
 Many words, especially those of the chiding category, have 
 either been made by the Arab camel-drivers, or borrowed 
 from the guttural speech of their cattle ; and one such is 
 liaub. A strain of the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN is also thus 
 designated, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 It forms the ambition of every desert lady, when she 
 mounts her camel, to have the rahl, or saddle, fitted with 
 the exceedingly picturesque sedan, which they call a hau- 
 daj, p. 321. Doughty saw the daughters of the Harb nation 
 (vol. ii. p. 304 of his Travels) seated in " crated frames, 
 trapped with the wavering tongues of coloured cloths, and 
 long lappets of camel leather." The hau-daj depicted in our 
 volume is from a sketch by Layard. The same distinguished 
 traveller and writer thus describes the structure : — 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 351 
 
 Hau-DAJ — contiiuied. 
 
 " A light framework, varying from sixteen to twenty feet in length, 
 stretches across the hump of the camel. It is brought to a point at 
 each end, and the outer rods are joined by distended parchments ; 
 two pouches of gigantic pelicans seem to spring from the sides of 
 the animal. In the centre, and over the hump, rises a small 
 pavilion, under which is seated a lady. The whole machine, as 
 well as the neck and body of the camel, is ornamented with tassels 
 and fringes of worsted of every hue, and with strings of glass beads 
 and shells. It sways from side to side as the beast labours under 
 the unwieldy burthen ; looking, as it appears above the horizon, like 
 some stupendous butterfly skimming slowly over the plain." ^ 
 
 HaUR or HOR 
 [Al] Hau-ran 
 
 Pp. 294, 295. 
 
 [Al] Ha-wi-ja 
 Ha-yil . 
 
 HiB-LAN 
 
 Beyond the limits of the desert, the hau-daj is called a 
 maJi-mil, lit. vehicle. The " Mah-mil " which accompanies 
 the annual pilgrim caravan from Cairo to Mecca is an ex- 
 ample. Like a royal carriage in a procession, the Egyptian 
 Mah-mil represents the Sultan and the Viceroy of Egypt. 
 In thirty-seven days of marching, it serves as the venerated 
 guide of the swollen concourse : v. Lane's Modern Egyptians, 
 ch. xxiv. 
 
 A marsh ; and especially a space which, after having been 
 under water, has dried up through evaporation, p. 82. 
 
 The remarkable district east of the Jordan, south and south- 
 east of Damascus, which is now much identified with the 
 Druses. The Hauran formed a part of the ancient kingdom 
 of Bashan. It was here that "the Midianites and the Amale- 
 kites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley 
 like grasshoppers for multitude ; and their camels were with- 
 out number, as the sand by the sea-side for multitude" 
 (Judges vii. 12). In our day this description is applicable to 
 the Aeniza, when they swarm into the Hauran in early 
 summer. According to Arab tradition, it was here that Job 
 increased in sheep and camels, oxen and she-asses. The 
 name Hauran occurs in Ezek. xlvii. 16-18. If the standing 
 interpretation of it by cave-land be uncertain, nothing better 
 has been offered. Porter's Five Years in Damascits is the 
 book most quoted by European travellers in Al Hauran who 
 pass our way. But the accounts therein given are very un- 
 satisfactory from the archaeological point of view ; and the 
 cities described as " pre-Mosaic " are mostly of the Roman 
 period. 
 
 A term of Arabian topography, pp. 82, S3, 280, 281, 283. 
 
 \Situated betzueen, i.e. between AjA and Sal-MA.] The 
 principal settlement in Ja-bal Sham-mar, pp. 37-48 passim, 
 58, 72, 122, 132, 146, 251, 296. 
 
 {Ireful^ The name of a great horde of the Aeniza, Table 
 p. 121. 
 
 ' op. cii. in Catalog. No. 30, vol. i. ch. iv. 
 
352 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Hid 
 
 Hi-jab 
 [Al] Hi-jaz 
 
 HiL-LA 
 
 HlM-RI 
 
 Him-rIn [Red] 
 
 HiM-YAR, HiMYARITES, HO- 
 ME RITES. 
 
 [Al] Hin-na . . . . 
 
 HiR-FA 
 Hl-SAN 
 
 Hl-SAN KA-SIR 
 
 Hit . 
 
 [Al] Hi-taim . 
 Hi-zam . 
 
 [ V. in art. Dij-LA, siipra?^ The river of Lower I'rak which 
 is called the Hid, after forming many intricate ramifications 
 (navigable only for the tar-ra-da, or canoe), loses itself, as is 
 believed, in a sheet of water marked on maps as Ha-ivi-ja. 
 Pp. 84 f.n. I, 85. 
 
 A charm or amulet, p. 136 f.n. i. 
 
 The mountain-land which separates the lowlands on the 
 Red Sea coast from the upland plain of the Arab peninsula, 
 pp. 26, 28, 29, 30, 34, 47 fn. 2, 49, 106, 116, 117, 128. 
 
 \A company alightiiig?^ The name of a small town on the 
 Euphrates, pp. 100, 300. 
 
 A natural grass of the Arabian steppe-land, p. 73. 
 
 Name of a range of mountains, pp. 84 fn. i, 282 et fn. i. 
 
 The name of a people whose hegemony followed on that of 
 the old Sabsean kings of Yemen, pp. 27, 28. 
 
 The name of the plant which is incorrectly rendered, in the 
 authorised version of Cant. i. 14 et iv. 13, "camphire." Botan- 
 ists name it Laivsonia alba; and the Indians, menh-dt. Many 
 oriental nations prize the hinna for its vulnerary and beauti- 
 fying properties. The Persians, and the Shi-ite Indians, 
 make its leaves into a paste, with which they impart an 
 orange-red colour to the beard, the palms, the soles, the 
 finger-tips, and other parts. We know from Im-ra-u '1 Kais' 
 poem that this practice prevailed among the pagan Arabs : 
 V. line II in the translated passage at p. 143. Some tradi- 
 tions are held to show that the Prophet habitually stained his 
 beard in this manner. From other traditions it is inferred 
 that he did so only once. 
 
 A name signifying active, which the Bedouin give to their 
 daughters, p. 51. 
 
 The Horse. The root-idea in Jii-san is inaccessibility. 
 That is, the horse's back is a tower of strength, or fortress. 
 When an Arab, in looking over a horse, exclaims, Hi-sdn! he 
 would say that he is " a Jiorse, and no mistake" or as he some- 
 times expresses himself, "two horses." Pp. 123 fn. i; 232, 
 238 f.n. 2. 
 
 A Galloway or pony, p. 258. 
 
 A small town on the west bank of the Euphrates, about 
 100 miles W.N.W. of Baghdad, pp. 73, 75, 78 f n. 3, 84. 
 
 Certain inferior hordes of the Arabian peninsula, p. 59 
 f.n. 2. 
 
 A man's girdle, p. 292 ; a beast's girth, and the like. The 
 part of the horse round wJiich the girtJi passes is mah-zim ; 
 for which they commonly say Jii-zdm. Arab horsemen 
 understand the importance of depth and capacity in this 
 region. So long ago as our sixth century, a desert " makar " 
 described his courser as large-limbed, full-flanked, and great 
 in the girthing-place. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 353 
 
 Hu-bA-rA 
 
 [Al] Hu-DHAir. 
 Hu-dCid . 
 
 HUF-HUF , 
 
 HUJ-JA 
 
 HULAGU . 
 
 Pp. 30 f.n. I, 277. 
 
 HU-MAT . 
 
 HUR-TU-MAN 
 HU-SAIN . 
 
 HU-TA 
 
 Hu-wai-tAt 
 
 An Arabian bustard, the affinities of which are with the 
 cranes in one direction and the plovers in another, p. 152. 
 
 A shepherd nation of Central Arabia, p. 59 f n. 2. 
 
 An Arab scholar says that hu-di'id means pre-eminent. 
 As a term of horse-breeding (pp. 237, 272 f.n. 2), it practically 
 expresses the same idea as a-sU, sa-liiJi (genuine), madh-Mit 
 (firm), and many other words. 
 
 The name of the chief settlement in Al Ha-SA, pp. 30, 31. 
 [The etymological meaning perhaps is, encompassed, as with 
 palms.] 
 
 {Convincing evidence.'] A written pedigree of a horse is 
 called by the Arabs a "huj-ja"; of which z^. an illustration, 
 with remarks, pp. 136 et 137. 
 
 [Marco Polo relates how "Alau" (Hulagu) gave up to fire 
 and slaughter " Baudas " (Baghdad with the gutturals slurred, 
 Mongol-fashion), " the great city, which used to be the seat 
 of the Calif of all the Saracens in the world, just as Rome is 
 the seat of the Pope of all the Christians." This merciless 
 pillager of Western Asia is now all but forgotten in the Tigris 
 valley, which in the 13th century he overspread with terror.] 
 
 {^Protectoi^s.l The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table 
 p. 235 col. i. 
 
 A kind of pulse, p. 82 f.n. i. 
 
 \_The little Ha-san, or younger brother of Ha-san.] A'li's 
 second son ; he who, when marching to Ku-fa, to head a 
 revolt against the Caliph Yazid's government, was intercepted 
 by a force of horsemen, and with all his followers butchered, 
 on the plain of Kar-ba-lA, q. v. infra. P. 162 fn. 2. 
 
 A town in Najd, p. 32 fn. i. 
 
 These people are met with by travellers in the region of the 
 Dead Sea. They also occupy parts of Egypt. If they can 
 claim a headquarters, perhaps it is in the cultivated lands 
 of the very ancient oasis which was known to the Greek 
 traders as Petra. P. 59 f.n. 2. 
 
 I'-bA-dAt . 
 IB-IL 
 
 Ibn . 
 
 The name of an important subdivis. of the Sba' Aeniza, 
 Table p. 121. 
 
 Camels ; a collective noun ; synonyms, bd-tr, pi. a-bd-i'r ; 
 ri-kab, q. v. infra; and other words. P. 57 f.n. 5. 
 
 [Building, or raising 7ip, sc. by the father or ancestor.] A 
 son ; son's son ; and remoter descendants. The fem. forms 
 are ib-na, ab-na, et bint, a daughter. In many shapes the 
 word is familiar in Europe : e.g., Ben, as Benjamin, prob. son 
 of right Iiand ; Bin, ot Ibn, 3.s Ibnu 'r Ra-shid ; and Ba-nu, 
 or Be-ni, as B. Is-ra-il. Pp. 34 f n. i, 107 f.n 3. 
 2 Y 
 
354 
 
 GLOSSARIAL I AW EX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 IBNU A-Wt 
 
 Ibnu 'l wa-tau 
 Ib-rA-h!m 
 
 Shekh 
 
 I'dhar 
 
 If-ri-ja 
 Ih-sa-na 
 Ih-si-n1 
 Ij-lAl 
 
 Ij-LAS 
 
 [Al] I-khai-dhar 
 Ikh-ri-sa 
 
 I'k-rish . 
 
 I-mAm 
 
 Pp. 39 f.n. 2, 25: 
 
 [Soji of a howler.'] The jackal, p. 34 f.n. i. 
 
 As an illustration of Bedouin names, p. 107 f.n. 3. 
 
 Abraham, pp. 100 f.n. i, loi. V. Abraham in Index ii. 
 
 The late, Arab horse-dealer, of Calcutta, p. 307. 
 
 The part of the Arab riding-halter which lies upon the 
 animal's cheek. Illustration on p. 140. 
 
 The name of a subdivis. of the Aeniza, Table p. 121. 
 
 A section of the Wald A'li Aeniza, Table p. 121. 
 
 The name of a horde of the Aeniza, Table p. 121. 
 
 Ut supra. 
 
 The name of one of the great confederations into which 
 the Aeniza nation is divided, Table p. 121. 
 
 A generic name for pastures, p. 105. 
 
 [Du7/ii>.'] The name of a horde of the Fid-a'n Aeniza, 
 Table p. 121, 122 ei f.n. 5. 
 
 [Pten^encj/.] The name of a grass, p. 82 f.n. 2. 
 
 The simplest meaning of this word is, a model. Al Kur-an 
 six times uses it. In S. ii. it is said of Abraham, Truly I am 
 making thee an I-mamfor men. In two texts, the same word 
 denotes an inanimate tablet. Accordingly, the title I-mam, as 
 borne by a Muslim ruler, signifies that he is, before all things, 
 an exemplar, as well as an establisher, of the Faith. Among 
 the developments of this theory there are two which have im- 
 portant political bearings — viz., the people must determine 
 whether the head of the State is "orthodox ";i and a prin- 
 cipality which is thus compacted like a sect or a congregation, 
 the more it expands, grows the weaker through dissensions. 
 Not to dwell on these aspects, the " I-mam" is he who, when 
 two or three of the Muslim pray together, posts himself in 
 front of the others. Leaders of public devotion (" I-mams"), 
 as well as lecturers, or preachers (" kha-tibs "), may be appoint- 
 ed by authority — e.g., by the Sultan of Turkey ; but such 
 officials do not perform religious acts on behalf of others. 
 The one great sacrifice of the Muslim is that in which a 
 camel, a cow, a sheep, or a goat is annually presented, in com- 
 memoration of Abraham's willingness to offer up his son. The 
 leading idea in this ceremony is that of a thank-offering, and 
 a benevolence to the poor." The Arabs do not read into it any 
 mystical meaning ; as an act of religion it partakes of the 
 general simplicity of desert life. This is noticed here because 
 confusion follows when terms like I-mdm and Muj-ta-hid 
 are rendered, as they very often are, by Priest and High 
 Priest. No doubt the Persian Muj-ta-hids? the Turkish 
 
 ^ A "Saying" of the Prophet is, Obey your rulers up to 
 the point (or the while) that they obey Allah. 
 
 ^ The same remark applies to the a'-ki-ka, or slaughtered 
 kid, with which the Muslim, following the example of the Pro- 
 phet's wife Kha-di-ja, do honour to every birtli in the family. 
 For a boy two kids, and for a girl one, are thus devoted. 
 
 2 Under the present dynasty of Persia, the Mujtahids, or 
 theological doctors of the highest degree of learning, have 
 more and more felt the weight of the secular government. 
 But their position is still that of spiritual Pashas of the most 
 formidable type ; and their interference in public affairs is, on 
 the whole, a great source of mischief. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 355 
 
 I-MAM — contimied. 
 
 I'-mA-rAt 
 
 [PI. of I'-md-f^d.] 
 
 I MRU 'L KAIS . . 
 
 [For Im-ra-u 'l Kais.] 
 
 Im-si-ka .... 
 Im-tair .... 
 I'N (eeu) .... 
 In shA Allah 
 
 iN-ZI-Hi .... 
 
 [Al] 1'rAk 
 
 I'-sA , 
 
 I'-sA di// Kir-tAs 
 
 I'SHB 
 
 U'-la-mA, or Knowers (i.e., of theology), and all the Asiatic 
 army of dervishes, fa - kirs, and muUas, represent orders 
 which may be called " religious." It is equally certain 
 that these privileged persons tremendously impress the un- 
 instructed masses. People who consider " holiness " to be 
 associated with special kinds of learning naturally tend to 
 exalt their " mullas " over the rest of mankind. But if either 
 " Levitical " or " apostolic " succession, or even the simplest 
 process of " ordination," essentially enter into the idea of 
 "clericalism," then is Islamism as I'emarkable among the 
 higher religions for the non-development of this thought as 
 for the absence of ritual in its worship. Beyond the One 
 God's existence, and His gift of a Prophet and a Kur-an, 
 there is nothing very abstruse in the Arabian theology. 
 Worship is the affair of the individual. With "sacramental" 
 ideas wholly absent, there is no room for " priestly " services. 
 The fulfiller of the patriarchal law of circumcision is merely 
 the village barber. Any one who can read or recite a few 
 sentences of Al Kur-an is competent to confirm the mutual 
 contract between the bride and the bridegroom. 
 
 [Root-ideas, _;?;'w^/^' holding a land, being populous, and the 
 like.] (i) A ^z/iTi-z-Bedouin people of El I'rak, p. 84 fn. i. 
 (2) A primary subdivis. of the Aeniza, Table p. 121. 
 
 [Either man {vir) of the tribe of Kais, or man, in the sense 
 of devotee, of the tribe's tutelary deity, Kais?\ Translations 
 from his poem, pp. 49, 143. Other references, pp. 50, 56, 97, 
 136, 144, 14s, 243 fn 2, 260. 
 
 [Root-idea, seizing?}^ The name of a subdivis. of the Sba' 
 Aeniza, Table p. 121. 
 
 [From viatr, rain.] The name of an important Bedouin 
 nation of Central Arabia, pp. 10, 58, 59 f.n. 2. 
 
 [PI. of an adjective meaning large-eyed, from din, the ej'e.] 
 Bovine antelope, p. 145 fn. i. 
 
 A favourite expression of the Arabs, and of all the Muslim, 
 p. 38 f.n. 3. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al KhaM-SA, pp. 235 col. v. et 
 298. [One who lives near us understands from the name 
 In-si-hi that the " Had-ba " mare from which this strain pro- 
 ceeded belonged to a Badawi who had quitted his ozvn people, 
 and become KA-SIR {q. v.) among strangers.] 
 
 The well-known province on the Tigris, pp. 23, 65, 6j, 78- 
 S6, 119, 120, 148, 203, 210, 230, 234, 271, 277-285, 298, 312, 
 315- 
 
 The Arabs thus write " yesiis" pp. 100 f n. i, 106 et fn. i, 
 228 fn. 1. 
 
 The late " Esau bin Curtas," Arab horse-dealer of Bussorah, 
 Calcutta, and Bombay, pp. 228, 248 f n. i, 270, 307, 308. 
 
 Spring grasses, p. 82 fn. i. 
 
3S6 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 [Al] I'shr 
 [Al] Is-lam 
 
 IS-MA-f'L 
 
 Is-ra-Il 
 
 Ithl or Ethel [corr&cily A thl) 
 IZ-MAIL 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 
 col. i. 
 
 [The Semitic root sliii'^ {v. p. 227 f.n. 5) yields, among 
 other forms, the form is-ldm, and is-lAm means surrender, 
 sciL, in its religious application, surrender to the Almighty : v. 
 as to the distinction between this " surrender " and " fatalism," 
 p. 130 et i.x\. 2.] For references to the " Dinu '1 Is-lam," or 
 monotheistic faith of Arabia, v. Preface, et pp. 4 f.n. i, 10 1, 
 108, 160 et f.n. I, 161, 163 f.n. 3, 277, 281 et f.n. 2. 
 
 \El heard.'] The Arabian form of " Ishmael," q. v. in 
 Index ii. 
 
 [El fought or strove.'] " Israel," q. v. in Index ii. 
 
 A tree of the Tar-fd, or Tamarisk order, p. 269. 
 
 [Diminutive oi zi-mdl, the ass.] The name of a subdivis. of 
 the Sham-mar, p. 122. 
 
 Ja-bal 
 
 Ja-bal Sham-mar 
 Ja-bal Sha-ra 
 
 Ja-bal TtjR 
 
 A mountain, pp. 39, 178. [The cosmogony given in Al 
 Kur-An is highly pictorial. The earth is of course repre- 
 sented as an immovable expanse, or flattened body, with the 
 vault of heaven for a canopy. The stars are supposed 
 to be the lamps ; and the mountains are described as the 
 " au-tdd," or tent-pegs, which keep down the margins: v. 
 S. Ixxviii.] 
 
 The name of a territory in pen. Arabia, pp. 37-48, 120, 122, 
 210. 
 
 The " Mount Seir," and the adjacent parts which are 
 defined in Deut. ii. 1-8, and are referred to in Judges v. 4. V. 
 p. 113 f.n. 4. [The plateau of Seir, the highest elevation of 
 which is about 4000 feet, is called by the Arabs Ar-dhu 's saw- 
 wan, o\- Jlmt-land. It overlooks the Dead Sea and Wa-diu '1 
 A'raba, and in some respects forms a barrier between Syria 
 and Arabia.] 
 
 The mountains which form the chief feature of the " Sina- 
 itic peninsula," p. 25. [The mountain from whose top, ac- 
 cording to an account which is embodied in both the Hebrew 
 and the Arabian Scriptures, the Deity entered into special 
 relations with mankind, no more admits of identification than 
 the site of the Garden of Eden does. The Jewish nation, 
 never knew where " Tor Sina " was. The Arabs have taken 
 
 ^ The radical idea in slm \5 peace, seairity, salvation; such 
 as those enjoy who escape from evil through the fulfilment 
 of an obligation. Practically, the word is-ldm signifies, i/ie 
 conforming ■with the essentials (" ar-Mn") of God's law; 
 and the undertaking to do, or say, as the Prophet has done or 
 said. The Muslim's salutation to his brother Muslim is. 
 
 ^^ As sa-l&niu a'-lai-kum, or The Peace (i.e., God's Peace, 
 the peace of believers) be on you. And the answer is, 
 " A' -lai-huma 's sa-ldm," On you be the peace: with perhaps 
 the addition of "uia rah-ma-tu 'Vld-hi wa ba-ra-kd-tzi-hu" 
 = a7id the mercy of God and His blessings. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 3S7 
 
 JA-BAL TU-WAIK . 
 P. 178. 
 
 jAB-RA-fL S^et JaB-KIL] 
 
 Ja-da-il . 
 Ja-gha-jagh . 
 
 Jais, for Kais . 
 Jai-sI, for Kai-si 
 Ja-lal-abad . 
 
 Ja-lam . 
 
 JA-MAL . 
 
 Jam-baz . 
 Jam-bi-ya 
 Ja-mi' 
 Ja-rad . 
 
 "T-Ar" from the Aramaic, in whicli language it means 
 viomitain^ 
 
 The name of a mountain-range, running ahnost due south, 
 which is described by Palgrave as " the backbone " of the 
 Arab peninsula. According to the same traveller, it forms 
 "a broad limestone table-land, at no point exceeding, so far 
 as has been roughly estimated, the limit of 5000 feet in height, 
 covering an extent of 100 and more miles in width ; its upper 
 ledges clothed with excellent pasturage, its narrow valleys 
 sheltering in their shade rich gardens and plantations, usually 
 irrigated from wells, but occasionally traversed for some 
 short distance by running streams." ^ (Op. cit. in Catalog. No. 
 7, vol. ii. p. 239.) \Tu-iuaik is a diiitimitivc from tauk, which 
 means, anything that suri'ounds another thing, e.g., aj/oke^ 
 
 The Biblical " Gabriel," p. 4 et f.n. 2. 
 
 Synonym of ga-sd-il', q. v. P. 29 f.n. 2. 
 
 An eastern arm of the Kha-bur, in N.W. Al Ja-zI-RA, pp. 
 74, 124. The "Gozan" of i Chron. v. 26 is the Ja-gha-jagh. 
 The Greeks knew the same stream as the " Hirmas." It is 
 often described as the " rivulet of Ni-si-bis " (the modern 
 hamlet of Na-si-bin). In writing the name as we do, we 
 follow the pronunciation of the natives ; but others make it 
 Jagh-ja-glia. The form " Jenijar" which Layard uses is 
 merely an approximation. In one of Kiepert's maps the 
 word is spelt Djakhdjakha ; and in another, Dschachdschacha. 
 Four consonants and three vowel marks suffice in Arabic. 
 
 The name of a horde in N.W. Al Ja-zi-ra, p. 75. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 The historic Afghan town, midway between Peshawar and 
 Cabul, p. 274. 
 
 [Another name for the tais, or he-goat.] A strain in Al 
 Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. iii. 
 
 The Camel, stcb quo v. Index ii. Sed v. NOTE ON TRAN- 
 SCRIPTION, in prefixes of the volume, p. ix fn. i ; ct text, 
 pp. 55 f.n. I, 57 f.n. i. 
 
 A horse-dealer, p. 123 in fn. i. V. HORSE-DEALER in 
 Index ii. 
 
 The skean^ or " slaughtering steel " of the Arabs, p. 46 
 f.n. I. 
 
 The place of congregational worship among the Sun-nite 
 MusHm, p. 163 fn. 2. 
 
 \^Stripperi\ The locust, pp. 12-14. A good illustration of 
 
 1 The flora of the range is thus touched on by the same 
 writer: "Except the date-palm, the ithel or ethel, the 
 markh, a large-leaved spreading tree, the wood of which is 
 too brittle for constructive purposes, and some varieties of 
 acacia, the plateau produces no trees of considerable size ; 
 but of aromatic herbs and bright flowers, among which the 
 
 red anemone, or shekeek, is conspicuous, this region is 
 wonderfully productive, so much so that Arabic writers 
 justly praise the sweet scent, no less than the purity and 
 coolness, of its breezes." 
 
 - In Arabic a hnife is " sik-ktii." 
 
358 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Ja-rad — contintied. 
 
 [Al] Jar-ba . 
 Jar-jar . 
 
 Jat, for Kat 
 
 [Al] Jauf 
 
 Jau-ha-ra . . . . 
 [Al] Ja-za-ir . . . . 
 [Al] Ja-zi-ra . . . . 
 
 Jenghis Kaan [In Chinese, 
 " Ching-sze" or perfect luar- 
 rior\ P. 89 f.n. i. 
 
 JiB-HA, for Jab-ha . 
 Jl-DA-A' . 
 
 JlD-RA-Nf 
 
 the flexibility of the Arabic language is afforded by the way 
 in which word after word, each containing the idea of denud- 
 ing, is formed from the same root as ja-rdd. E.g., ja-rid, 
 originally a palm-branch with its leaves stripped off — the 
 " Djerid " of Moorish ballad poetry — p. 150. Other deriva- 
 tives severally mean the bare parts of the body, like the 
 face ; one who is stripped, in the sense of being reduced to 
 poverty or to solitude ; and, to name no more, a portion 
 selected or severed from a larger set or body, whether as a 
 detachment of Horse, or a pamphlet or newspaper. 
 
 The name of a great clan of the Sham-mar, p. 125. 
 
 [Probably a word taken from a sound.] One meaning of 
 jar-jar is, the bray which the camel reiterates in the windpipe ; 
 akin to which sense is that of chewing the cud. The spiked 
 cylinder with which they break up the sheaves of corn is 
 also called ^jar-jar, p. 80. In Isaiah xli. 15, mo-rag (equally 
 in Hebrew and Arabic a rotler) is used for jar-jar. 
 
 Lucerne, p. 31. Towards the Persian Gulf this crop grows 
 luxuriantly, but it seems to find Baghdad less congenial. 
 In Persia, "jat" is called j/un-ja. 
 
 [A cavitf.] Topographically, any depressed tract of 
 country, especially one of basiJi form. Arabia contains 
 many surfaces of this description. P. 37. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-sa, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 The name of a people on the Lower Euphrates, p. 84 f n. i. 
 
 The country east of the middle part of the Euphrates, pp. 
 63. 64, 65, 70-77, 78, 79, 103, 125, 218, 236, 269-276, 295. 
 
 This son of a minor Mongolian prince died (1227) the 
 master of an empire which stretched far into Northern China. 
 He also created, through his warlike descendants, Mongol, 
 Mogul, or Mughal dynasties all over Asia. An incredibly 
 large sum of human misery must be written down to Jenghis. 
 One of his armies is said to have massacred in one week, at 
 Hi-rat, more than a million and a half The formidable off"- 
 shoot from his house, HuLAGU, in the seven days following 
 his seizure of Baghdad (iSth February 1263), permitted 
 800,000 to be butchered. But if we except the presence of 
 . the Turks on the Bosphorus, and the existence, in Southern 
 India, of the Nizam's Hyderabad — founded (1712) by Ching 
 Kulich Khan, better known as Nizamu '1 Mulk, A-saf Jah — 
 the vestiges which maps now retain of the terrible empire of 
 . the Mongols are inconsiderable. 
 
 In a horse, the part that is below the ears and above the 
 eyes, p. 298. 
 
 [The root-idea is maiming?^ The name of a subdivis. of the 
 Aeniza, Table p. 121. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, which is called 
 after a certain Jid-rdn. This is the fancy lineage of the horse- 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 359 
 
 Jid-rA-ni — contimicd. 
 
 JlF-Ll .... 
 
 JIL 
 
 JiL-FAN .... 
 
 Jl-MAI-SHAT . 
 
 Jl-NA-HU 'T TAIR . 
 
 Jinn et Jan [Anglice, genii] 
 Pp. 136 f.n. I, 238. 
 
 JlR-BI-A . 
 JU-BUR 
 JU-NUB . 
 [PI. oijanb.} 
 
 breeders of the Euphrates. It is said to be extinct, except in 
 offshoots transplanted to Europe and Egypt by royal person- 
 ages. But, judging from the statements of the dealers, every 
 other horse in whose strings is a " Sak-la-wt Jid-ra-nt" this 
 must be an error. The name has even become proverbial. 
 The donkey-boys of Baghdad and Hilla, when one of their 
 steeds is seized with a fit of galloping, dub him on the spot a 
 " Sak-la-wi Jid-ra-ni " 1 Even so should every reader, before 
 assigning too much value to these desert stud terms, wait till 
 the bearer of it shall have given proof of superiority. Table 
 p. 235 col. ii. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 
 col. iv. 
 
 Straw, p. 80 f n. 3. 
 
 The name of a strain of the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table 
 p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 \_Shaven or shorn?^ The name of a subdivis. of the Aeniza, 
 Table p. 121. 
 
 [ Wing of the bird.'] The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, 
 Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 This generic name is connected with several words in 
 other Semitic dialects, but the root-sense is obscure. The 
 more educated of the Arabs are beginning to fight shy of 
 demonology ; but the JINN stand on the firm basis of Al 
 Kur-an. According to one view, the Order includes all in- 
 corporeal beings, from The Devil, par excellence, or " Satan " 
 {Shai-tdn), down to the puniest elf Others assign three 
 divisions to the unseen kingdom : the good, or angelic ; 
 the intermediary — i.e., the JiNN ; and the absolutely wicked, 
 whose leader is IB-LIS.^ A curious belief exists in El Prak, 
 that the wolves hunt down the Jinn and eat them ! 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. ii. 
 
 The name of a people of El Prak, p. 84 f.n. i. 
 
 \^Sides^ (i) The skirts of a country, p. 33 ; (2) the 
 flanks, or barrel, of a horse. [Not to be confounded with 
 Ja-nAb, the S. wind, from the same root.] 
 
 K 
 
 Ka'b [commonly pronounced 
 Cha'b]. P. 85. 
 
 A people of El Prak. They now overspread Khuz-istan 
 {q. V.) in Persia ; and their camps and villages are distributed 
 on both banks of the Ka-run river, from Ahwas to the Shattu 
 'l A'rab. Change of water and air, and intermixture with 
 other nations, have altered them in manners, religion, costume. 
 
 ^ In the Kui-an Sliai-tdn and Ib-lis [8m)3o\os] are inter- 
 changeable terms. The former is said by European scholars 
 to be one of the few words in the Kur-an which are of Christian 
 
 origin. It is held to have been acquired by Arabic from 
 the Abyssinian, although introduced before Muhammad's 
 time. 
 
36o 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Ka'b — continued. 
 
 Ka'-ba .... 
 Pp. 38, IIS ^i f-^s- I and 
 128, 143 f.n. 6. 
 
 Ka-bar 
 
 Kabr [in Hebrew, kebiti-ak'] 
 Kabru 'l khai-yal maf-tuh 
 KA-DHt [in Eur. books, Cadi ; 
 and in Anglo-Indian, Kasee\. 
 
 Ka-dhi-main . 
 
 and character. They are now more Persian than Arab. Their 
 country is much interspersed with arid desert, but where 
 there is water they are cultivators. Fa-la-ht-ya is their prin- 
 cipal settlement. Their Shekh lives at Fai-li-ya, on the Shattu 
 '1 Arab, a few miles above Mu-ham-ma-ra, in a well-built 
 chateau. He also possesses a castle on the opposite, or 
 Ottoman, bank of the river. In this way he is enabled to 
 be " not at home " to the officials of either Government. As 
 a third refuge, he keeps an armed iron steamer on the surface 
 of the river. Old-fashioned territorial people of his class 
 obstruct the path of centralisation. Rights which they re- 
 gard as their ancestral property are apt to be sold at Teheran 
 to the agents of European Companies, or perhaps given away 
 as "concessions." The "Shekh of Muhammara" lives in a 
 constant state of apprehension lest he should be seized by a 
 Persian Governor or Commander, and forwarded as a little 
 present to his not too much loved master the Shah. 
 
 In the first instance this is a name given to bones having 
 certain characters, and to bones used as dice. Specially, the 
 "Ka'-ba" or " Kd-batii V bait" is the great building which 
 stands towards the middle of the precincts known as the 
 "Mas-jidu 'l Ha-ram" of Mecca. The Ka'-ba was last 
 rebuilt in A.D. 1627. It resembles a colossal astragalus of 
 about 40 ft. The " bfack stone " which the pilgrims kiss is 
 let into the wall, inside, about 4 ft. above the ground. This 
 stone exhibits the traces of having at least once felt the 
 spoiler's fury ; but its pieces have been cemented together, 
 and a rim or frame of silver encircles the stone.-^ The relic 
 is the sole survivor of the 360 fetishes which were lodged in 
 the same spot, before the Arab Prophet did for the Ka'-ba of 
 Mecca what Joshua did for Jeroboam's chapel at Bethel — 2 
 Kings xxiii. 15. 
 
 The name of a plant, p. 81 et f n. 4. 
 
 \_B7irying^ A grave or sepulchre, pp. no fn. i, 152 fn. i. 
 
 The saying of the Arabs, p. 152 et f.n. i. 
 
 The Caliph's chief justiciary officer under El Is-lam's earlier 
 organisation, pp. 43 fn. 3, 230 fn. i. [The Ka-dhi deals 
 executively with cases, and the Muf-ti with abstract refer- 
 ences.] 
 
 [For Mak-ba-ra-tu 'l Ka-DHI-main, or burial-place of the 
 two Ki-dhims.] The name of a town near Baghdad which the 
 Persians, and all Shi-ites, greatly venerate, p. 312. 
 
 ' Compare the following record, in Dr Johnson's Journal 
 of his Tour in the Hebrides : " The place is said to be 
 known" (in the convent churches of Icolmkill) "where the 
 black stones lie concealed on which the old Highland 
 chiefs, when they made contracts and alliances, used to 
 take the oath which was considered as more sacred than 
 
 any other obligation, and which could not be violated 
 without the blackest infamy. . . . They would not 
 have recourse to the black stones upon small or common 
 occasions ; and when they had established their faith by this 
 tremendous sanction, inconstancy and treachery were no 
 longer feared." 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 ^.6i 
 
 [Al] Ka-dir . 
 Ka-dish . . • 
 
 [PL KU-DUSH.] 
 
 KaF-FI-YA et CHAF-Ft-YA 
 [For KU-FI-YA.] 
 
 Ka-fi-la 
 
 Ka-fir 
 p. 6. 
 
 KAh 
 Kah-tan . 
 
 Kah-wa . 
 
 {The Poivcrftil One.] An attribute, used as name, of Allah, 
 pp. io6, 107 e( f.n. I. 
 
 {Working for a livelihood ; but it is doubtful if the root be 
 classical Arabic] The name which the Bedouin bestow on 
 all horses of which they cannot tell the pedigrees, pp. 22, 47 
 et f.n. 3, 249, 250 et f n. i, 259, 260, 263. 
 
 Ku-fi-ya is a loan-word in Arabic. It is the Italian eiiffia, 
 the Spanish cofia, and our coif. The Arabs apply it to any 
 kerchief [in Turkish, char-chaf\ but chiefly to the shawl- 
 like covering which, with a rope {ikal) twisted round it, forms 
 their head-dress, p. 108. [The kaffi-ya covers the poll, shades 
 the eyes, and falls over the neck and shoulders. But, like 
 most picturesque objects, it is untidy.] 
 
 The train of travellers [perhaps but half a dozen, perhaps a 
 host] which the Persians call a kdr-vdn [our "caravan"] is 
 termed by the Arabs a ka-fi-la, p. 311. 
 
 The simplest meaning of this word is, one who covers up an 
 object. This is the sense in which, in S. Ivii. of Al KuR- 
 AN, it is applied to cultivators — i.e., those who bury the seed 
 in the ground. In El Is-LAM, a "Ka-fir" is one who dis- 
 allows, rejects, denies, Muhammad's mission and message. 
 Logically, nobody who professedly does so should object to 
 pass by this description; but practically, "Ka-fir" is used, 
 like ■" infidel," offensively. Among the Muslim it is before 
 all things necessary to be a believer. Just as in Israel 
 David's misdeeds did not weigh very heavily against him ; so, 
 in Arabia, the due discharge of religious obligations condones 
 mere offences against men. 
 
 Kd-fir is too technical a word for the primitive Bedouin. 
 In place of it they use d^dil, or enemy — i.e., enemy of Allah. 
 The thought that any one exists who is in so monstrous a 
 condition shocks them. And seeing that Allah does not slay 
 his enemies, some of them are apt to do so for him. 
 
 It is only natural that the Muslim Afghans should assign 
 the name " Kafir-istan " to the " unconverted " tracts on their 
 borders. But the use of " Kaffre," or " Cafifre," first by the 
 Portuguese, then by the Dutch, and now by ourselves, to 
 designate numerous tribes of Africa, is a curious instance of 
 the extension of language. 
 V. p. 80 f n. 3. 
 
 (i) The Arabian form (as is supposed) of the "Joktan" of 
 Gen. X., p. 98. (2) The name of a Bed. nation of Central 
 Arabia, pp. 59 f.n. 2, 62, 94, 100, 122, 291. 
 
 The decoction which we call coffee, p. no fn. 2. The 
 coffee-house, whether covered or al fresco, is also called kah- 
 tva, pi. ka-hd-zvt. What the public-houses are in Europe, the 
 ka-ha-wi are in the towns of the Arabs. Homes of the 
 humbler order are so tightly packed with inmates, that their 
 2 Z 
 
362 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Kaid 
 
 Kai-dAr . 
 
 [Biblical " Kedar."] 
 Kaidh 
 Kai-lO-la 
 Ka-im ma-kam 
 Kais 
 KA-KA 
 
 Kal-a' Sher-gAt^ 
 
 Ka-ma-ri 
 
 Ka-m1s . 
 
 Ka-rA-mi-ta . 
 [PI. of Kar-mat; 
 
 Kar-BA-lA 
 
 Pp. 83, 132, 162, 294, 319. 
 
 masters, when they get up in the morning, hasten to quit 
 them for the coffee-houses. 
 
 The iron shackles with which the Arabs secure their horses, 
 p. 243 f.n. I. 
 
 The Arabs thus pronounce the name of Abraham's second 
 son, pp. 49 f.n. 3, 118. 
 
 Summer, p. 50 f.n. 2. 
 
 The Arab's word for his mid-day nap, p. 81 £'^ f.n. i. 
 
 A minor official of the Osmanli, p. 207 fn. i. 
 
 V. in art. IM-RA-U 'L Kais, supra. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 Et V. p. 281 fn. 2. 
 
 A series of grass - covered mounds extending for about 
 two miles along the W. bank of the Tigris, some 55 miles 
 S. of the site of Nineveh. The principal mound rises in 
 some places nearly 100 feet. Dr Budge, of the British 
 Museum, informs us that these remains are as old as B.C. 
 1820; that cuneiform inscriptions of the time of the Assyrian 
 King Tiglath Pileser 1. (B.C. 1130) have been found in them ; 
 that they represent the " city of Assur " (Ellasar of Gen. x. 
 11); and that, in all probability, long before the date (1820 
 B.C.) of Assyria's becoming an independent kingdom, the 
 Akkadians and Babylonians had a fortress there, the name 
 of which resembled that now given to these ruins by the 
 Arabs. 
 
 V. at p. 72 a reference to a futile attempt which a late 
 Governor-General of Baghdad made to restore Kal-a' Sher- 
 gat, by bribing a section of the Sham-mar to settle near it 
 and cultivate; so that the Mosul trade might again, as of 
 old, pass along the right bank of the river, instead of making, 
 as now, a great detour by Ar-bil and Kar-kuk. 
 
 Hindustani name for the disease called parap/e£-ia in horses, 
 p. 314 ei f.n. I. 
 
 The long cotton shirt which, worn under the cloak or a'M, 
 forms the dress of the primitive Arabs, pp. 108 f n. 2, 140. 
 
 The followers of Ham-dan, ii>mi 'I Ash-a'th (,;. 887 A.D.) 
 
 [Ham-dan, from a disfigurement of the face, was called, in 
 the local Aramaic dialect, Ku7--ma-ta ; which the Arabs 
 made into Kar-mat. V. a reference to the " Carmathians," 
 p. 30 fn. I.] 
 
 Also called Mash-had Hu-Sain, or place where Hti-sain 
 was martyred. The plain of Kar-ba-la is about 60 miles 
 S.W. of Baghdad. The town which has here grown up, 
 though of modest size, is one of the most flourishing in the 
 
 1 This spelling proceeds upon the assumption that Kal-a' 
 Sher-g&t is a name of the Semitic period. If so, it may 
 equally signify. Fort of the eastern parts, or fort which 
 marked the Babylonian limits ; and Fort commanding the 
 
 middle (or perhaps the bifurcations) of the road. It is, 
 however, possible that either or both parts of the compound 
 name in question may represent some still more ancient 
 proper name, such as the Kal-hu or "Calah" of Gen. x. 11. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 363 
 
 Kar-ba-la — continued. 
 
 Kard 
 Kar-kha . 
 
 KAR-KtiK 
 
 [Al] Kar-rar 
 KA-SIB 
 
 Ka-sim . 
 
 Ka-sir 
 
 [Vulg. " Ga-strr^ 
 
 [Al] Kas-wa 
 Ka-ta-ban 
 
 KA-TfF . 
 
 Kau-kab . 
 
 Ka-wa-i'd 
 
 Kaw-wa-li 
 
 KHA-Bt>R . 
 
 Kha-di-ja 
 
 Turkish empire. A'li's own tomb is at Na-jaf, about 50 
 miles further south. Pilgrims from all parts of Islam an- 
 nually assemble in Kar-ba-la and Na-jaf, to recall to mind 
 and bewail the scenes there enacted in the month Mu-har- 
 rMii, a.h. 61. [V. supra, in art. Hu-SAIN.] 
 
 The name of the apparatus with which, in El I'rak, they 
 draw up water, p. 47 fn. 3. 
 
 A river of S. -Western Persia, p. 5 fn. i. 
 
 A town of the Kurds, about 140 miles N. of Baghdad, pp. 
 84 fn. I, 159 f.n. 5, 261, 280, 300. 
 
 An epithet of A'li, p. 239 f n. 3. 
 
 The name of a hound, p. 145. 
 
 [According to the old T^lAxXoXogi-sXs,, sandy ground producing 
 glia-dJid bushesi] A part of Najd, pp. 32 f.n. i, 39, 258. 
 
 Said of a body of the Bedouin who have joined themselves 
 to another than their own people, p. S3 fn. i. \^Ka-sir 
 may mean one whose steps are shortened, as if by fetters ; 
 and an Arab says that it is in this sense that the word 
 is applied to those who dwell with strangers. In all 
 countries it is difficult to attain the perfect mean between 
 neglecting a guest and hampering him. The Persian says, 
 A-ma-dan, ba i-rd-da; raf-tan, ba i-ja-za — i.e., To come, is at thy 
 pleasure; to depart, depends on thy hosf s permission. Theodore 
 of Abyssinia, it will be remembered, literally shackled his 
 English visitors to prevent their abrupt departure.] 
 
 \_Slit-cared?^ The name of one of the Prophet's riding- 
 camels, p. 230. 
 
 A people of ancient Yemen, p. 97 f n. 3. 
 
 An ancient Arabian town on the Persian Gulf, p. 20. [Ka- 
 tif, U'kair, and Ku-wait are the principal outlets for the pro- 
 ducts of Central Arabia.] 
 
 Kau-kab means a star ; and Tall Kau-KAB, or MOUNT 
 Kau-KAB, is the name of a solitary volcanic projection, about 
 300 ft. high, which rises abruptly from the plain, in N.W. 
 Al Ja-zi-ra. P. 73. 
 
 At p. 115 fn. 3, see this word considered in connection with 
 the Arabian tradition that Abraham founded the Ka'-BA of 
 Mecca. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 A river of N.W. Al Ja-ZI-RA, pp. 72 fn. i, 74, 75, 82, 
 124, 244. The Greek geographers noted the Kha-bur as the 
 " Habor" et " Chaboras." Rising in the fountains of RAsu 'l 
 a'IN {q. v.), it enters the Euphrates near Kar-ki-si-ya (Circe- 
 sium). The name Kha-bur is traceable for at least thirty 
 centuries. The Tigris also owns a tributary of the same name. 
 
 The name of the Prophet Muhammad's first wife, in whose 
 lifetime he married no other, p. 17. [Said to mean, (i) one 
 prematurely born ; (2) small or delicate.] 
 
364 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 [Al] Khai-bar 
 
 P. lOI. 
 
 Khail 
 
 Arabic motto on title-page, 
 pp. 57 f.n. 5, 264 f.n. I. 
 
 [Al] Kha-la . 
 Kha-lil . 
 
 Khamr . 
 
 Kham-si . 
 Kha-rish 
 Khark . 
 
 [Vulg. " Kharj."] 
 Khashm . 
 Khatn . 
 
 KHA-TU-Nt-YA . 
 
 An important palm oasis in the debatable land between 
 Al Hi-jaz and Najd. Before Is-lam, its mountain-sides and 
 dark-green valleys formed Jewish townships. At the present 
 time its principal inhabitants are Osmanli soldiers, and the 
 black or bronzed cultivators of African race who represent 
 the absent Bedouin soil-owners. The Aeniza nation hold 
 inalienable land-rights in the old Jew country, which probably 
 ranked among their earliest lordships over settled parts. 
 Every year, in the date harvest, they gather round it, to 
 reckon with their village partners. Even those divisions of 
 them which have passed far away have left their traces in the 
 nomenclature of its localities. In settlements on the Eu- 
 phrates, it is only the townsman's mare that we find owned 
 in part by a nomad. But in the seven Khai-bar valleys, every 
 palm-stem, and even the houses of the villagers, more or less 
 belong to the Bedouin. In the economy of the Arabs, it is 
 more general for the open country to command the towns 
 than for the towns to protect the open country. The village 
 is considered to belong to some tribe of the surrounding 
 wilderness. The men of the cloak and spear are its "klm-fa- 
 rd," or protectors ; and it is exclusively under their escort 
 that caravans approach it and set out from it. 
 
 Horses collectively, as in a stud or a squadron. [Accord- 
 ing to certain Arab scholars, the word implies the idea of 
 pride; and the generous elation with which the well-bred 
 and healthy horse carries himself is a characteristic feature. 
 A forgotten versiiier thus describes a cavalry march in one 
 of Cesar's triumphs : — 
 
 "And their chargers stepped as if they felt that they were Romans too."] 
 
 A horseman is kliai-ydl, p. 152 fn. i. 
 
 A name for the desert, p. 18. 
 
 A friend. Al Kur-An says, in S. iv. 124, And Allah took 
 Abraliam for His friend. Hence the Patriarch's title of 
 "Khalilu 'llah," p. loi, et V. p. 109 f.n. 3. 
 
 Fermented liquor, and generally, every description of "strong 
 water," pp. 52-55. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 Ut supra, col. iii. 
 
 \Place where tlie wind bloivs?^ The principal town of Ya- 
 ma-ma, in Najd, pp. 32 fn. i, 42. 
 
 The nose. As a term of topography, p. 75 fn. i. 
 
 Circumcising, pp. 1 12-1 14 et f.ns. 
 
 The name of a small lake between Sinjar and the Euphrates, 
 p. 74. A hamlet has grown up beside it. Many houses stand 
 on a promontory which stretches athwart the water. When 
 we visited the spot in 1887, the people showed the usual signs 
 of friendship, but they had no chopped straw or barley. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 3<55 
 
 KhA-TU-n1-YA — coti tinned. 
 
 [Al] Kha-wa-rij 
 P. 30 f.n. I. 
 
 [Al] Kha-za-i'l 
 Khirr 
 
 Khir-san .... 
 Khu-mai-yis .... 
 
 Khurj-in . . . . 
 
 [Al] Khurs . . . . 
 
 Khuz-istan . . . . 
 [The Biblical Elam and the 
 classical Susiana.] P. 79. 
 
 Their lake was covered with wild-fowl, which they declared 
 that they were without the means of shooting or snaring. 
 Its fish were said to have poisoned themselves with putrid 
 locusts. 
 
 [ The goers out from, or against.'] In order to understand the 
 distinctive position of the " Kharijites," both in the Prophet's 
 lifetime and afterwards under the U-may-yad Caliphs, it is 
 essential to remember that El Is-lam, in its first conception, 
 was a theocracy. One of Muhammad's Companions said, 
 There never zvas a Prophetic dispensation which was not suc- 
 ceeded by a kingdom of force. The truth of this was soon 
 illustrated in the case of Islamism. Almost from the first 
 start, reasons of State were allowed to outweigh loftier 
 aims and motives. The tide of worldliness rose higher and 
 higher ; enthusiasm gave place to " orthodoxy " ; the great 
 spiritual movement resulted in the setting up of a secular 
 Arab empire. The Kharijites obstinately resisted this pro- 
 cess. They formed one of many other unbending militant 
 sects, which, for the sake of abstract principles, threatened 
 to involve El Islam in anarchy. When they were put down 
 in Asia, they broke new ground in Africa. 
 
 A people of El I'rak, p. 84 f.n. i. 
 
 The back-flow from a river into a natural channel, pp. 81, 
 82. [The name is probably imitative, like "whir" from 
 the susurrus, or murmur of the water. In the same way, 
 both murmur {mar-mar) and susurrus (sar-sar) may per- 
 haps claim to be of native growth in Arabic. Several kinds 
 of vociferous creatures, both birds and insects, are called 
 by the Arabs sar-sar. The name b/im for the owl — in Hin- 
 dustani, ul-lft — is common to them and to the Persians.] 
 
 [^Dumb.] The name of a strain of the stock of Ku-HAI- 
 LAN, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 [From kham-sa, five.] A proper name of the Arabs. The 
 name of a strain of the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table p. 235 
 col. vi. 
 
 A pair of saddle-bags. Reference, with illustration, p. 
 148. [A Persian word which the Arabs claim, and write 
 khii.r-jain.'] 
 
 [Another form of khii'-sdn.'] The name of a strain in Al 
 Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 The seaboard province of Western Persia, the port of 
 which is Mu-HAM-MA-RA. Evidently the name is a later 
 form of Khuz, a geographical term of the Sasanian (corre- 
 sponding with the early Christian) period of Persian history. 
 Some identify the word Kh1\z with " Uwaja," which occurs 
 in the Persian cuneiform inscriptions, and perhaps means 
 Aborigines. If such be the history of the name, the pre- 
 vailing feature of the modern province of "Khuz-istan" agrees 
 
366 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Khuz-ISTAN — continued. 
 
 Ki-AD 
 
 KiD-DA-MI-YA . 
 KlF-RI 
 
 KiN-DA . 
 
 KiN-YAN . 
 KiR-MAN-SHAH 
 
 with it. For, while its southern and champaign division is 
 overspread by ahen immigrants (v. art. Ka'b), the mountain- 
 ranges which traverse its northern part shelter a nation {v. 
 art. BakHT-I-A-RI) pre-eminently aboriginal. The former 
 tract is now loosely called " A'rabistan," or place of Arabs ; 
 and there is a growing tendency to bring the Bakht-i-a-ri 
 territory also under the same official designation. 
 
 'lEasy to lead.'] The name of a sub-strain in the stock of 
 Ku-hai-lAn, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 [From kitd-dam, in fro?it.'\ A kind of dagger, p. 46 et f.n. i. 
 
 The name of a small town which the Turks call Sa-LA-hI- 
 YA, N.E. of Baghdad, on the post-road to Mosul, p. 84 
 f.n. I. 
 
 The name of an ancient Arabian monarchy, p. 50. [Before 
 the Prophet's birth Kin-da had lost its hold on Eastern and 
 Central Arabia, and contracted to its original seat in Hadh- 
 RA-MAUT.] 
 
 [Clusters 0/ dates.] The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, 
 Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 This is a very well-known division of Western Persia ; but 
 a few notes made on the spot itself may be acceptable. One 
 feature of the whole region is, the amenity of the climate. 
 The flag-town, which is of the same name with the province, 
 is 4760 feet above the sea. In winter it receives a great deal 
 of snow, but the summer is temperate. The Kara Su, or 
 dlack water, which washed the walls of the ancient city, passes 
 within two or three miles of the modern one. Commercial 
 activity constitutes another feature. Wheat and gums are 
 the chief exports ; the caravansaries teem with merchants 
 and pilgrims ; and the settled population of about 50,000, 
 though rigorously governed, are in no wise oppressed by 
 poverty. Those of them who send produce to London have 
 long desired to connect the Kara Su with the head streams 
 of the Ka-run, so as to obtain a continuous water-way to 
 Mu-ham-ma-ra, in lieu of the present trade-route, which goes 
 by Baghdad, and thence down the Tigris. In this part of 
 Persia, fertile tracts — covered with corn-fields, avenues of trees, 
 summer-houses, and gardens — are intersected by rugged and 
 precipitous, but not very lofty, mountains. 
 
 Some of our readers may appreciate a slight allusion to an 
 antique custom which prevails in Kirmanshah. In the same 
 moment that an important traveller alights at his host's 
 threshold, a sheep, or a steer, is slaughtered before him. And 
 when, for example, the proprietor of a village rides up to 
 visit it, or passes it on a journey, the principal inhabitants 
 meet him and perform the same ceremony. This usage is 
 not exactly the same as the hospitable Arab practice of 
 preparing a lamb on the arrival of a stranger ; for the meat 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 367 
 
 Kir-mAn-ShAh — continued. 
 
 Ko-CHAR . 
 
 KO-DA 
 KU-BAI-SA 
 
 Ku-bai-shAn . 
 
 [Fem. ku-hai-sha.'] 
 Ku-dhA-a' 
 
 Ku-hai-lAn . 
 [From Ku-HAIL.] 
 
 KU-HAI-LA-TU 'L A'JUZ 
 KU-LAIB . 
 KU-MAIT . 
 KUMIS 
 
 [Al] Ku-raish 
 
 is not served to the visitor, but is given in his name to others. 
 The Mullas say that this action is purely an expression of 
 respect — a view which is borne out by the fact that the guest 
 frequently stays the performance of it ; just as officials in 
 India " remit," or return, the " offerings " that are made to 
 them. But the inhabitants of Kirmanshah retain many 
 marks of their Aryan origin. The Persians to this day 
 begin their letters with the formula, May I be tliy sacrifice. 
 And we shall probably not be mistaken if we regard the 
 Kurdish observance now noticed as a vestige of the very 
 ancient conception that calamities, and even sins, admit of 
 being transferred to others.^ 
 
 [Probably from the Tatar word kfich, to move from place to 
 place.] [The name Ko-ckar {-p. 133) indicates the nomadic 
 habit, apart from nationality. For example, Afghanistan 
 contains many groups of different races who move about 
 with their camels, and are known as Kuch-is.] 
 
 The tax which the Osmanli take from sheep-owners, p. 84 
 fn. 2. 
 
 [Plastering, or building^ The name of a small settlement, 
 of about 300 houses, in Sha-mi-ya. Many generations of 
 pedlar life have imparted to its inhabitants a volubility of 
 language which renders a " Ku-bai-si " easily recognisable. 
 P. 294 fn. 2. 
 
 [From kabsh, a ram ; figuratively, a leader.] The name 
 of a strain in the stock of Ku-HAI-lAn, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 A noble Bedouin nation, of the stock of Kah-tan, which 
 is often mentioned in the early Arabian poetry, p. 117. 
 
 A comprehensive term for all the " thoroughbred " horses 
 of the Arabs. The derivation of the word considered, pp. 
 233, 234. Table of the stock of Ku-HAIL, or Ku-hai-lAn, 
 p. 235. Other references, pp. 183, 206, 210, 240, 248, 249, 
 253,255,256, 258,269, 271, 279. 
 
 The traditional epithet of the parent mare of all the stock 
 
 of Ku-hai-lAn. 
 
 Pp. 
 
 2^2 2'K'\ 2 
 
 .234- 
 
 [Al] Kur-An . 
 
 The William Tell of Arabian legendary history, p. 116 et 
 f.n. 2. 
 
 The dark bay colour, Table p. 262. Other references, pp. 
 4, 260. [Kji-niait is also a very old Arab word for wine.] 
 
 The drink of the Mongols, p. 60 et f.n. i. 
 
 The best-known name of the branch of Ki-na-na settled in 
 and about Mecca, of which, in the " Ba-nu Ha-shim," or House 
 of Hji-shim, the Arab Prophet was born. Pp. 17, 116, 117, 
 128, 160, 293. 
 
 The " Message," or " Admonition," which now forms the 
 
 ' In old-fashioned Indian households the crones crack 
 their knuckles and make passes with their arms, above the 
 
 heads of young persons, under the idea of thereby taking 
 upon themselves the misfortunes that are hanging over them. 
 
368 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 [Al] Kur-An — continued. 
 
 Kurd 
 
 KuT [officially, K^Ltu V Pind-ra, 
 V. art. Ku-WAIT, infra?\ 
 
 sacred Book of the Muslim, was described by him who 
 preached it as a " plain Kur-an," S. xxxvi. Much dis- 
 cussion has arisen as to the signification of the word kur-dn. 
 It comes from ka-ra-a = legere ; and the accepted meaning of 
 a reading, and equally a recitation, seems perfectly adequate 
 and satisfactory. This opinion is expressed with due defer- 
 ence to the view on the same point which the eminent 
 Oriental scholar Deutsch proposed in his famous article on 
 "Is-lam" in the Quarterly Review for October 1869, p. 306. 
 
 According to Deutsch knr-dn means. 
 
 not a " reading," but 
 
 a "cry." His argument is, that the text which begins with 
 " Ik-RA ! " — the imperative ol ka-ra-d — though placed by 
 the redactors in Su-ra xcvi., stands first in point of date 
 of the prophetic utterances ; that in " ik-rd " there " lies 
 hidden " one of those " very few onomatopoetic words " (sc. 
 crj', sc/irei, &c.) which are " still common to both Semitic 
 and Indo-European ; " and lastly, that " Muhammad dis- 
 tinctly denied being a scholar." ^ Our only reason for 
 noticing this speculation is, that several recent writers have 
 appropriated it. The philological part of it is purely im- 
 aginative. The residue breaks down before the simple fact 
 that oral recitation was the primitive Arab's method of read- 
 ing. The " Ik-ra ! " of Gabriel merely means, RECITE ALOUD ! 
 
 V. as to the rationale of Al Kur-An's " down-sending," 
 or " revelation," p. 4 f n. 2 ; and on the point of its literary 
 history, a note, under Kur-An, p. xii. of prefixes of this 
 volume. 
 
 Translations from Al KuR-An occur at pp. 21 fn. i, 50, 
 54, 109 fn. 2, 130 fns. 2 et 3, 134 fn. i, 135 fins. 3 et 4, 158, 
 159, 160 fn. I, 163 fn. 4, 227. 
 
 Other references will be found at p. vii of prefixes of volume, 
 pp. 12 fn. 3, 17 fn. I, 20 fn. 3, 27, 28, 44, 52, 53, 96 et f.n. i, 
 loi, 102 et fn. 2, 106 fn. i, 1 10 fn. 2, iii fn. 3, 113, 115, 133, 
 135, 136, 157, 159 f-n. 6, 160, 161, 189, 227 fn. 5, 230, 281, 299. 
 
 The name of an important Asiatic nation, pp. 5, 6 et f n. i, 
 16, 70, 133 et fn. 4, 134, 159 et fn. 5, 261, 281 et fns. i and 2, 
 282 et fn. 2, 283, 284, 312. [In Arab parlance a Kurd, or 
 anything " Curdish," is " Kur-di " ; out of which they form 
 the plural " Ak-rad," the Kurds.] 
 
 An Ottoman station on the east bank of the Tigris, about 
 half-way between Baghdad and Bussorah, in the country of 
 the Ba-nu Lam Arabs, p. 84 f n. i. 
 
 ^ In S. .\xix. it is adduced as a miraculous sign that, 
 Before it {i.e., before Al Kur-an] thou [Muhammad] didst 
 not recite any book ; nor didst thou zuith thy right hand write 
 (transcribe) one. In another Su-ra [62], it is noticed that 
 tlie Prophet belonged to the " pagan," or " gentile," section 
 of the Arabs, whose natural condition of course was that of 
 
 the unlearned. Nevertheless, evidence is wanting to decide 
 the moot-point of whether Muhammad was acquainted with 
 writing. All that can be safely said is, that, so far as is 
 known, he employed some one else when he had anything 
 to write. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 369 
 
 Ku-WAIT ..... [A diminutive, formed by the Arabs from the Aryan word 
 
 Pp. 32 f.n. I, 36, 150, 17s, Mt, our cot. KAt has spread over the East in the sense of a 
 181, 210, 211, 212, 254, 260, fort, or other substantial building.] The bay, harbour, and 
 300. Arab town of Ku-wait, at the head of the Persian Gulf, form 
 
 for all who know them ideal places — because of the salubrity 
 of the air, the briskness of the commerce, the hardihood of the 
 sailors, the success with which ship-building on a small scale 
 is practised, and the remoteness of the Ottoman Government. 
 Ku-wait is also called Kani ^ — in European maps written 
 " Grane " — from the bay being /zi^rw-shaped. 
 Kuw-WA A town in Najd, p. 32 fn. i. 
 
 L 
 
 La-b1d [One meaning of la-bid in Arabic is, a horse's mikli-lat or 
 
 fodder-bag.] The lives of the seven poets of the Mu-cil-la-kdt 
 {q. ■z'.), extended over upwards of a century. La-bid was the 
 latest of the series, and the only one who embraced Islamism. 
 He is said to have lived till A.D. 661, or even later. 
 Translations from his poem, pp. 106 fn. 2, 145 fn. i. 
 Other references, pp. 49 fn. i, 61 fn. 4. 
 
 LiBD The felt which they who do not know how to weave make 
 
 by beating, or compacting, wool into a fabric. The Kurds of 
 both sexes cover themselves in winter with seamless and 
 ungraceful cloaks of this material. Among the Arabs libd 
 is a very old name for a saddle, p. 143 et f n. 2. The Persian 
 word for libd is nd-mdd, ex quo the Anglo-Indian form 
 "numbda," meaning the piece of felt which in warm climates 
 they place between the horse's back and the saddle. When 
 saddles can be properly dried, and from time to time re- 
 stuffed, the advantages of the " numbda " \]iam-da\ are doubt- 
 ful. At all events, it should never be made of dyed material, 
 Even a red or yellow binding will on a warm day discolour 
 the horse's coat. It is better to vandyke the edges of a saddle- 
 cloth, as the Kurds do, than to bind them. 
 
 LiB-Dl The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. iii. 
 
 Lu-BIA A species of bean, which in El I'rak bears in autumn. It 
 
 [Gr. X0/S09.] does not stand up, like its congener the ba-kil-la, but covers 
 
 the surface of the ground with its dark-green leaves and 
 woody branches, p. 82. 
 
 Ltr-Rl Of or belonging to the Lur nation, p. 284. 
 
 1 In f.n. 2 p. 12S, it is said that the farts of the head i particular religion are "karn." But at Bussorah, where this 
 ivhence the horns grow are "kirn"; while the people of a I note is added, scholars denote both these words by "karn." 
 
370 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 M 
 
 Ma 
 
 Madh-bah 
 
 Ma-dhIf . . . . 
 
 Ma-dI-na 
 
 For page references v. 
 dina in Index ii. 
 
 Ma'-GIL . 
 
 [For Ma'-kil.] 
 Mahd 
 Mah-mud of Ghaz-ni 
 
 Mah-ra . 
 Mai-mCin . 
 Mai-san . 
 
 [Pronounced uuz-c.] Water, pp. 3, 99 f.n. 4. 
 
 The throat, or throttle, p. 253 et f.n. i. 
 
 [Post-classical] The place in which guests are received, 
 pp. 104, 295. 
 
 [Sound authorities hold that this word is not Arabic, but 
 Me- a loan-word from the Aramaic ; in which language it means 
 sphere of authority, ox province, and then a city.] The Medina 
 [" Ma-di-na-tu V Ra-sAli 'llah "] of Al Kur-AN [S. xxxiii.] 
 dates but from the Flight. From that time onward, till the 
 U-may-yads removed the seat of empire from it to Damas- 
 cus, it was a place of the first importance. But long before 
 Is-lam, the oasis of Yath-rib, about 200 miles north of Mecca, 
 in which the modern Medina is situated, witnessed events of 
 no small magnitude ; now, unhappily, too much confused by 
 fable to be intelligible. Enough to notice, that the oasis, 
 when it comes into the light of history, was held by Jews. 
 
 Any halting-ground of camels, where they are hobbled 
 with the rope called al i'-kdl, p. 17. 
 
 A child's resting-place, or cradle, p. 275 f.n. i. 
 
 The Afghan town of Ghaz-ni, the name of which was 
 carried a generation ago into our peerage by a British General, 
 stands associated from a much earlier period (A.D. 1000) with 
 one of the great figures of Eastern history. Rapid ascents 
 and rapid falls have always been common in the vast ter- 
 ritories washed by the Oxus and the Jaxartes. Mah-mud's 
 father, Su-bak-ta-gin, the son of a Turk-i slave, was the first 
 of a new family, by which were founded the illustrious " Ghaz- 
 navi " dynasty, and the Muslim empire of India. Mah-mud 
 nine times invaded India. From the Punjab to Guzerat he 
 demolished the idols in the Hindu temples. He collected 
 at Ghaz-ni the spoils of innumerable cities. But after all 
 he was essentially a plunderer. The eloquent old woman 
 who reproved him for taking more countries than he could 
 govern (p. 43) was perfectly right. The opposite in this 
 respect of Alexander, he made no attempt to tame the 
 nations which submitted to him. It is only his kindness to 
 the poet Fir-du-si, and to other men of letters, that serves 
 to mitigate Time's judgment on him. 
 
 A maritime district of Arabia ; the climate of which is very 
 unfavourable to the development of the human family, p. 32. 
 
 [Fortunate, from the same root as YEMEN.] The name 
 of A'li's charger, p. 239. 
 
 [Said to describe the characteristic walk of the high-bred 
 Arabian.] The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 
 235 col. i. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 i/^ 
 
 [Al] Mai-sir . . . 
 [Al] Maj-ma' . . . 
 
 Makh-zI .... 
 [Al] Ma-liku 'dh dha-lIl 
 
 MAM-LtJK ... 
 
 Man-da-li 
 
 Ma'-ra-ka 
 
 Mar-bat . 
 
 Mar-din . 
 
 Ma-rib . 
 
 P. 97. 
 Mar-kaz . 
 
 [Al] Mar-ta' . 
 Ma-sa-i'b . 
 
 Ma-sa-ri-ba . 
 
 MAsH . . . 
 MA shA Allah 
 Ma-shA-hif . 
 [Al] Ma-s1h . 
 
 Mas-jid . 
 
 Masjidu 'l Ha-rAm 
 
 Ma-tA-ri-fa . 
 
 Mat-ra-ha 
 
 A game of chance of ancient Arabia, p. 54 fn. 2. 
 
 [^Place of Junction.'] The name of a town in Najd, p. 32 
 f.n. I. One of the " points " of a horse, p. 145. 
 
 {Execrable.] Applied by the Wahabis to tobacco, p. 164. 
 
 \_Tke erring pi'ince.] A sobriquet of Im-ra-u '1 Kais, p. 50. 
 
 [" Mameluke."] P. 150 ct fn. i. 
 
 The name of a pastoral town, of about 1500 houses, three 
 days' journey E. by N. of Baghdad, p. 282 f n. i. [Vague, 
 though not unrecorded, traditions indicate the probability 
 -that if excavations were made at Man-da-li, traces throwing 
 light on the history of Christianity in ancient Persia would be 
 discovered.] 
 
 A name for the Bedouin saddle, p. 141. [If mci-ra-ka be 
 derived from ark, sweat, then the word corresponds with the 
 Persian name for a saddle, kho-gir?[ 
 
 [Lit., place zvhere a beast is tied^ Used by the Bedouin, 
 like rasn {q. v.), for what we call a " strain " of horses, p. 236. 
 
 A historical city, picturesquely seated on a summit of 
 Mount Masius, about 4000 ft. above the sea, in the Di-ar-bakr 
 Pashalik, p. 74. 
 
 One of the ancient cities of Arabia, to the miraculous 
 destruction of which Al Kur-An alludes in S. xxxiv. 
 
 The spot zvhere the Shekh strikes his spear in the ground, to 
 form the centre of the encampment. The word bears many 
 secondary meanings from, in geometry, the centre of a circle, 
 up to the widest extensions. 
 
 A general name for desert pasture, p. 105. 
 
 [PI. of vias-db, untamed?^ The name of a subdivis. of the 
 Aeniza, Table p. 121. 
 
 [From mis-rib, q. v. p. 107.] The name of a subdivis. of 
 the Sba' Aeniza, Table p. 121 ; p. 271. 
 
 The name of a vetch, p. 82 f.n. i. 
 
 An expression of the Arabs, pp. 38 f.n. 3, 124 fn. i. 
 
 [PI. of viash-hufl\ Canoes, p. 84 f.n. i. 
 
 The form in which the title " Messiah " is written in Al 
 Kur-An. P. 106 et f n. I. 
 
 The Arabic word which in English is written "mosque," 
 and in Spanish " inesquita." P. 163 f.n. 2. 
 
 Thus is designated the whole space (an oblong square, 250 
 paces long and 200 broad) which contains the Ka'-BA {q. v.) 
 of Mecca, with many other buildings and standing places, p 
 116. 
 
 [From mat-raf, a certain garment having coloured or 
 figured borders.] The name of a subdivis. of the Aeniza, 
 Table p. 121. 
 
 \Tliat upon which one throivs liinisclf?\ A name for the 
 Bedouin saddle, p. 141. [In some Bedouin nations they dis- 
 tinguish between the ma'-ra-ka and the viat-ra-ha ; restrict- 
 
372 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Ma-wa-hIb 
 Ma-wa-li 
 
 MA-YA 
 
 Ma'z 
 Mecca 
 
 Mi'-DAN . 
 
 MlH-JAN . 
 MlH-MAZ . 
 MlJ-WAL . 
 
 Mikh-lAt 
 Mil-wAh . 
 
 MiN-DA-KHt 
 MiN-DAL . 
 Mi'-NI-KI . 
 
 MiR-l'Z . 
 MiR-RA . 
 
 Mi-shAsh 
 Mis-ran . 
 
 MokhA . 
 
 Mosul 
 
 For page references v. In- 
 dex ii. 
 
 ing the former name to the saddle proper, and the latter to 
 the cloth or felt which is placed under it.] 
 
 [Root-idea, that oi giving^ The name of a subdivis. of the 
 Sba' Aeniza, Table p. 121. 
 
 {Defenders, allies, and so forth.] A horse-breeding people 
 of the country round Aleppo and Ha-ma, p. 271. 
 
 The horse's frog, p. 179. 
 
 A nation of Najd, p. 59 f n. 2. 
 
 [For Mak-ka?[ V. Index ii. 
 
 The name of a nation of the Babylonian marsh-land, p. 84 
 f.n. I. 
 
 Et MISH-A'B: v. p. 142. 
 
 [Root meaning, JiicJdng^ The spur, p. 142 (illustration). 
 
 Shekh of the Sham-mar, p. 72. [ V. niij-wal in art. 
 
 Dir-a', supra^ 
 
 The feeding-bag, p. 318 fn. 3. 
 
 [Large in the al-ivdh, i.e. any of the spread-out bones, especi- 
 ally the shoulder-blades.] The name of a strain of the stock 
 of Ku-hai-lAn, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 [Hard steel.'] Ut supra, same column. 
 
 The name of the strain in the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN to 
 which the Darley Arabian was reckoned, Table p. 235 col. 
 vi. et f.n. to Table ; also pp. 213 f.n. i, et 237. 
 
 The name, in Sin-jar, of the breed of Angora goats which 
 is there much cultivated, p. 133 et f.n. 4. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-sa, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 Splint, p. 177 f.n. I. 
 
 Gtit, or intestine, use of, by the horse-exporters, to produce 
 a certain blemish, p. 313. 
 
 The well-known, but now utterly dwindled, town of Yemen, 
 on the Red Sea coast, p. 20. [Mokha, or "Mocha," never 
 produced coffee. The surrounding country is sterile. The 
 European name of " Mocha coffee " is out of date. It orig- 
 inated in the days when the port of Mocha enjoyed a short- 
 lived prosperity in connection with the coffee trade.] 
 
 In Arabic, Al Mmi-sil means the place of junction ; and 
 El Ja-zi-ra and El I'rak touch one another near the town 
 of Mosul, on the Upper Tigris, over against the site of Nine- 
 veh. [Marco Polo saw Mosul in the 13th century, and 
 with his usual touch of exaggeration described it as " the 
 very great kingdom of Mavvsal." He also noted that 
 " all the cloths of gold and silk that are called Mosolins 
 are made in this country " — Marco Polo, Bk. I. ch. v.] Euro- 
 pean imports have long ago killed the old manufactures of 
 Mosul. Except for students of antiquity, and in particular 
 for those desirous of investigating ancient Eastern Christian- 
 ity, the town now offers but few attractions. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 373 
 
 Moth 
 mu-adh-dhin 
 
 The Indian word, p. 47 f.n. 3. 
 
 This word is now established in English dictionaries in the 
 form " muezzin." It is one of a series of words in which are 
 d-dhdn, a sound, and u-dimn, the ear. In El Is-lam, the 
 A-dhan is the Call to Prayer ; and he whose office it is to 
 raise it, from the Mosque minaret or other elevated station, 
 is the Mu-ADH-DHIN, p. 128. [The A-dhan was never, so 
 far as is known, dictated in precise terms by the Prophet. 
 It accordingly admits of slight variations ; but the follow- 
 ing is the prevailing formula : — 
 
 Allahu ak-barM Allahu ak-bar ! Allahu ak-bar ! Allahu ak-bar ! 
 
 I declare that there is no object of worship save Allah ! {twice.) 
 
 I declare that, of a truth, Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah ! {twice.) 
 
 Hie- to Prayer ! Hie to Prayer ! 
 
 Hie to the means of the attainment of Paradise ! {twice) 
 
 Prayer is better than sleep ! ^ Prayer is better than sleep ! 
 
 Allahu ak-bar ! Allahu ak-bar ! 
 
 LA i-la-ha il-la 'llah ! * 
 
 [Al] Mu-a'l-la-kat = 
 
 Translations from (or refer- 
 ences to) — 
 
 Im-ra-u 'l Kais, pp. 49, 143. 
 
 Ta-ra-fa, pp. 57, 234, 255 
 f.n. I. 
 
 The Jews, we know, used the trumpet for the purpose 
 of calling people together ; while the bell and the gong 
 were identified with numerous cults. The Arab Prophet 
 lost nothing from being thus led to prefer the human 
 voice.] 
 
 The Seven Mu-a'l-la-kat are seven recitative poems of 
 the pre-Islamic Arabs. They were committed to writing 
 soon after Muhammad. A little later, some Scott or Ritson 
 ■ — probably Ham-mad of our 8th century — included them in 
 one collection. At least, the view now generally accepted 
 is that, although other pieces existed, the Seven which are 
 contained in the standard collection at a very early period 
 received the preference. The names of the seven poets are 
 Im-ra-u '1 Kais, Ta-ra-fa, Zu-hair, La-bid, A'n-ta-ra, A'mr ibn 
 Kul-thum, and Ha-rith ibn Hil-li-za. It is impossible for 
 any one who has sojourned in the Arabian desert to read 
 these heirlooms of antiquity without feeling their fascinations. 
 
 ^ Meaning Allah is greatest. 
 
 - The word rendered "hie" is hai-ya in Arabic. It re- 
 sembles an interjection ; but the Arab grammarians ex- 
 plain it as "between a verb and a noun." They include 
 in the same group with it A-iiitn, a word which is used 
 in Muslim much as in Christian prayer. Of course the 
 Arabs hold that ^ -?/«« is Arabic ; and they say that it means 
 respoiide. 
 
 ^ It is only in the A-dhAn of early morning that this 
 clause is uttered. 
 
 ■* Meaning, The?-e is no object of worsliip save Allah. In 
 this, with the companion clause, Miihamvtad [is] t/ie apostle 
 of Allah — in Arabic nine words in all — consists the formula 
 by the utterance of which the Muslim declares himself to be 
 
 such. The remark which these words suggested to Gibbon 
 is too familiar to need quotation. 
 
 ^ In the days when "general belief" was held to render 
 research unnecessary, the title " Mij-a'l-la-kAt " was in- 
 terpreted in its most literal sense ol suspended ; to correspond 
 with which the story was fabricated, that these productions 
 were hung up by the Arabs on, or in, the Ka'-ba at Mecca. 
 But Arabic is not so poor as to afford only one meaning for 
 mu-a' l-la-ka. If each poem bore this name from the earliest 
 period, the root-idea may have been that of preciousness. 
 If the title only originated when the Seven Pieces were 
 strung togetlier by an editor, then the word equally admits of 
 this interpretation. 
 
374 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 ZU-HAIR, pp. 130 f.n. 4, 145 
 
 f.n. I. 
 La-bid, pp. 49 f.n. i, 61 f.n. 
 
 4, 106 fn. 2, 145 fn. I. 
 A'N-TA-RA, pp. ii2fn. 1,221. 
 A'MR, pp. 42, 104 fn. I, 117, 
 
 1 30 f n. 4, 240. 
 
 MUD-DA-I'-YIN. 
 
 MUF-TI 
 P. 159. 
 
 MU-HAF-FA 
 MU-HA-FIDH 
 
 MU-HAJ-JAL 
 MU-HAM-MAD 
 
 Muhammad, ibn A'bdi 'llah , 
 
 Muhammad, ibn Su-tj'd 
 Muhammad ibnu V Ra-shid 
 
 MU-HAM-MA-RA 
 
 Mu-ha-wit 
 
 MU-HID . 
 MU-JAL-LI 
 
 mu-khal-la-di-ya . 
 
 mu-khaw-wadh . 
 [Al] Mu-kai-yar . 
 
 They are far removed from all conventional models. To 
 say that they reflect the desert and its inhabitants, as a 
 lake does tlie heavens, is inadequate. Their authors made 
 history before they made verses. Warriors and hunters, 
 passionate lovers and knight - errants, seem to speak to us. 
 Picture follows picture, like the movements of the mirage. 
 In one line it is the scud of the wild ass or the ostrich which 
 we see before us ; in the next, a train of tent-ladies in their 
 camel-litters. 
 
 . A spoken form (for nind-da-il'na), which is current in 
 Najd as the title of certain office-bearers, p. 163 et f n. i. 
 
 \_Surpassing, primarily through youthful vigour?^ Under 
 the Osmanli, an officer, chosen from among the U'-la-ma, 
 whose duty it is to issue judgments on such points of faith 
 and law as are officially referred to him. 
 
 A fan, p. 295 f n. i. 
 
 [From the same root as HA-FIZ, q. v. supra?\ A title of 
 dignity among the Arabs, like our " Lord Keeper," p. 17. 
 
 Explained at p. 264 f n. 2. 
 
 \_One zvho is liighly, or repeatedly, praised ?\ For the/brw of 
 this name, v. NOTE ON METHOD OF TRANSCRIPTION, p. X 
 of prefixes of volume. For its antiquity, v. p. 107 fn. 2. 
 
 The Prophet of Arabia. Born c. 570. Fled from Mecca 
 to Medina, with only one companion, April 622, which was 
 chosen as the epoch of the Muslim era. Died on Monday, 
 8th June 632. Pp. 4 et fn. i, 17 et fn. i, 20 et fn. 3, 28, 
 54 ct fn. 2, 93 fn. I, 96 et fn. i, 99 fn. i, 100 fn. i, loi, 102 
 et fn. I, 106 fn. i, 108, 115 f.ns. 2 and 3, 117, 130, 135 et fns., 
 158, 160, 229, 230 et fns., 299. 
 
 The grandson of Amir Fai-sal of Najd, p. 42. 
 
 A-mir of Ja-bal Sham-rtiar, pp. 40-48, 122, 145 fn. i, 211, 
 
 237,251. 
 
 [Redness, v. p. 260 f n. 4.] The Persian port on the Shattu 
 'l A'RAB. The town does not contain more than about 2000 
 inhabitants. It is a mile from the river, on the right bank of 
 an artificial canal, or " hafr." Pp. 82, 259. 
 
 \_Protector?\ The name of a strain in Al KhaM-SA, Table 
 p. 235 col. i. 
 
 [Nonpareil.'] Ut supra. 
 
 The name of a strain in the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table 
 p. 23s col. vi. 
 
 \Ado7'ned with bracelets, or zvith little bells.} The name of a 
 strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 "All four white," p. 264 fn. 2. 
 
 [From kir, bitumen or mineral pitch.] F! p. 1 11 f n. 2, a 
 reference to the city of " Mugair." [Naphtha, in Arabic naft, 
 is still yielded by the soil of Babylonia. It supplies the 
 cement or plaster of aqueducts. The round boat called 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 375: 
 
 [ Al] M U-KAI-YAR — continued. 
 
 MUL-LA 
 
 Mu-lOku 'l ichail duh-mu- 
 
 HA. 
 MU-NAI-JIZ . . . . . 
 
 MU-NI-RA . . . . 
 
 MUN-TA-FIK 
 
 MURR 
 
 [Al] Mur-ra 
 mur-ta-jiz 
 
 MU-SA 
 
 MO-SA, ibn Nu-SAIR 
 
 MU-SAI-LI-MA 
 P. 30 f.n. I. 
 
 kuf-fa, or "gnf-fa"'^ is paid both inside and outside with it^ 
 as in the days when Hasisadra dwelt in the city of Surippak, 
 and weathered a seven days' deluge in a vessel thus rendered 
 water-tight.-] . . 
 
 \^Ac.cording to most aiithoi'ities, a loan-zvord in Arabic?^ In 
 the Arabian desert, any one zvJio can read, pp. 13, 136. 
 Generally, a scholar; more specially, (i) a master and ex- 
 pounder of the Kur-an and Sun-na, and of the body of 
 jurisprudence which is thereon founded ; (2) a schoolmaster. 
 
 A saying of the Arabs as to horses' colours, p. 264 
 f.n. I. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 
 col. iii. 
 
 \Brilliant?\ The name of Muhammad ibniL 'r Ra-shid's 
 favourite ^//rt3'-2^ mare, p. 237. [We have the word in minaret, 
 in Arabic int-nar, the place on which a light, ndr et nftr, is 
 displayed.] 
 
 The name of a Bedouin nation of the Lower Euphrates, pp. 
 84 f.n. I, 85, 86, 270, 308. 
 
 \Bitter?\ Doctors sometimes give Arabic names to home- 
 made stuffs ; but the myrrhs and the basil are among the 
 herbs which, on reaching Europe from Asia, have retained 
 their native names, p. 19. [In one of A'n-tar's verses, both 
 murr and ba-sil are used as epithets of a bitter and terrible 
 combatant.] 
 
 The name of a Bedouin nation, pp. 29, 59 f n. 2, 100. 
 
 The name of one of the Prophet's chargers, p. 230 f n. 2. 
 
 [The Arabic transcription of the Hebrew name "Mosheh," 
 which is known to us (through the Greek translation of the 
 Old Testament) as " Moses," pp. 100 f.n. i, 106. 
 
 The "Moorish," i.e. Muslim Arab, governor of Africa 
 through whose energy the West Gothic, or Visigothic, king- 
 dom in Spain was subverted, p. 163 f.n. 4. [Mu-sa's lieutenant, 
 Ta-rik, was the first to plant a fortress on " The Rock," or 
 ja-bal, which was called after him, Ja-bal Ta-rik, our 
 "Gibraltar."] , 
 
 [Diminutive (of derision) o^ Muslim, raedimng false Muslim^ 
 One of the Ba-nu Ha-ni-fa, of Ya-ma-ma, in Najd, who set 
 up prophetic pretensions, in opposition to Muhammad. His 
 cause received support, and it was not till the Caliphate of 
 
 ^ The basket-boat of El I'ralc is made of au-saj, or osiers, 
 plaited over uprights of stout material. The section shows a 
 gentle curve at the bottom, and a deep one above forming 
 the side. The ordinary kuf-fa is about 3)^ feet in diameter 
 and_2^ feet deep. One man can work it, by using a paddle 
 on the two sides alternately. Camels are ferried across 
 rivers in craft of this description; and the horses and mules 
 of -the country all know the kuf-fa. The Persian poet 
 An-va-ri, in a description of the_Tigris at Baghdad, says. 
 
 that a thousand sun-shafed coracles on its S2irface resembled 
 the stars in the clear blue firmament. Less poetically, the 
 whirling kuf-fas suggest the idea of huge black bird-nests 
 which are being washed down by the current. 
 
 ^ K in Professor Huxley's Essay upon some Controverted 
 Subjects, pp. 583-625, a critical examination of "Hasisadra's 
 Adventure," as set forth in certain recently obtained Assyrian 
 tablets. 
 
376 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 [Al] Mu-sal-li 
 Muscat . 
 
 MU-SHAI-TIB . 
 
 MU-SIN-NA 
 
 MUS-LIM .... 
 
 [A'rabu 'l] Mus-ta'-ri-ba 
 
 Mut-a'b 
 
 Mu-ta-wal-lI 
 Mu-wA-1-ja 
 
 MU-WAI-NI' 
 
 Mu'-WAj Ham-mAd 
 
 MU-WAR-RAD 
 MU'-YIL . 
 
 Abu Bakr that, after the defeat and death of the pretender 
 in a sanguinary battle, Is-lam was freed from this danger. 
 
 F. p. 131 f.n. 3. 
 
 The Gibraltar of the Persian Gulf, and capital of Oman, 
 pp. 20, 252 et f.n. I. [In the Arabian ballad literature, 
 mas-kat means, tJie place zvhere the sandy ridge subsides 
 into the plain.] 
 
 \A pahn-h'ancJi dratvn fortli from its skin.'\ The .name of 
 a strain in Al Kham-sa, Table p. 235 col. v. [An Arab 
 says that the name, as applied to a courser, means, long, and 
 level, and light of flesh.] 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-sa, Table p. 235 
 col. i. 
 
 A follower of the DiNU 'L Is-lam. Passim, et v. p. loi 
 f.n. 2. [The name Mus-lim is probably as old as its Semitic 
 root slm. It occurs in the Talmud, where it is held to mean 
 a righteoiLS man?[ 
 
 {Naturalised Arabs?[ According to the Arab chroniclers, 
 immigrants who entered Arabia, at a less remote period than 
 the " Himyarite " Arabs, pp. 98, gg et f n. i, 100, 117, 118, 120. 
 
 \_Mus-ta'-ri-ba appears in Spanish as " Mozaribe." The 
 Arab conquerors of Spain thus designated the Christian com- 
 munities which they tolerated in Cordova, Seville, Toledo, 
 and other cities.] 
 
 \^0]te zvhose arm, or leg, has been broken, and imperfectly 
 reset.l The name of a prince of Ja-bal Sham-mar, p. 40 
 f.n. I. 
 
 One who administers trusts for a religious purpose, p. 153 
 f.n. I. 
 
 The name of a subdivis. of the Sba' Aeniza, Table p. 121. 
 
 {Repelling^ Ut supra. 
 
 [Mu'-waj, inclining noiv to this side and noiv to that, in 
 galloping ; Ham-mad, a man's name.] The name of a strain 
 in the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 One of the colours of Arabian horses, p. 225 et f.n. 2, and in 
 Table p. 263. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 NA-Bt 
 
 [An] Na-bi-gha 
 P. 227 fn. 4. 
 
 N 
 
 A " Prophet," in the sense described at p. 4 f.n. i. [Every 
 RA-sCjl or messenger is a " na-bi " ; but every " na-bi " is not 
 a " ra-siel."] 
 
 [Said to mean ojie who, not having been born a poet, becomes 
 one.] Epithet serving for name of Zi-yad, of the tribe Dhub- 
 yan, a distinguished Arabian poet, whose fame was estab- 
 lished in the half-century before Muhammad. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 i77 
 
 Naf-ha-tu'l Ya-man 
 
 Naga [for na-kd\ 
 NA-I'J 
 
 Na-JAF . 
 
 Najd 
 
 Naj-ma-tu 's subh 
 Na-kib . 
 
 Na'l 
 
 Na'man 
 Nard 
 
 Na-sai-yir 
 
 NA-SfB . 
 NA-Si-BfN 
 
 Nau-fa-lI 
 
 NA-tr'R . 
 
 Naw-wak 
 
 [ Viclg. Naw-wag.] 
 Ni-Ll 
 
 NiS-BA 
 Nl-ZAR 
 NU-FtJDH 
 
 \_Odo!ir or breatli of Ycmeii.l The title of an Arabic tale- 
 book, a piece from which is translated, pp. 215, 216. 
 
 The cow-camel, p. 56. 
 
 \_A w/tite caiitcl.'] The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, 
 Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 A town of El I'rik, the chief feature of which is the 
 mausoleum of A'li, p. 44. 
 
 l^A plateaiLl\ The well-known name of the elevated central 
 portion of the Arabian peninsula, pp. 8, 9, 16, 19, 21, 22, 23, 
 25-64 passim, 121, 124, 125, 126, 127 f.n. 2, 135, 136, 145 
 fn. I, 153, 164, 175, 205, 210, 211, 212, 220, 236, 244, 245, 
 260, 293, 300, 315. [Of or belonging to Najd is " Naj-di."] 
 
 {^Morniiig sta!-.] The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, 
 Table p. 235 col. ii. 
 
 [One ivJio searches into?[ P. \%l et f.n. i. V. art. A'bdu 'L 
 Ka-DIR, supra. 
 
 The ancient Semitic sandal, described and illustrated p. 
 97 f.n. 4. In Persia, Afghanistan, and India, na'l (p. 179) 
 now generally means a horse-shoe, v. illustration p. 180. 
 
 A proper name, p. 4 et f.n. 3. 
 
 [In Baghdad, tA-li, or long.'] Backgammon, trick-track, or 
 tables, p. 54 f.n. 2. \_Nai-d is considered Persian. In Bagh- 
 dad the Persians call dice zdr ; and the Arabs, _/z/j, "pl.fn-sfis^ 
 
 [Aiding.'] The name of a subdivis. of the Ru-wa-la Aeniza, 
 Table p. 121. 
 
 A man's lot or portion, p. 1 30. 
 
 In the Assyrian, early Armenian, Roman, Parthian, and 
 later periods, Na-si-bin, in the north of Al Ja-zi-ra, was 
 an important military and commercial station. The resi- 
 dences of emperors, viceroys, and generals, adorned it. The 
 name may either imply the idea of military posts, or of 
 columned edifices and palaces. At the present day, ruins, in 
 which are a hamlet, form its principal features, pp. 6'^, 74. 
 
 [Nau-fal, in its commonest use, is the name of a certain 
 wild flower ; and it is also a favourite proper name among 
 the Arabs.] A strain in Al Kham-SA is called Nau-fa-lt, 
 Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 The large vertical water-wheel, which is described p. 81 
 f.n. 2. 
 
 [Same as dha-Ud, q. v. p. 61 f.n. 3.] The name of a strain 
 in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 One of the colours of Arabian horses. Table p. 263. 
 
 [Lit., relationship^ Used by the Bedouin in the sense of a 
 breed of horses or other animals, p. 236. 
 
 According to the Arab genealogists, a patriarch of the 
 " Ishmaelite " Arabs, p. 99. 
 
 A term of Arabian physical geography, pp. 34-38, 97, 126, 
 269. 
 
 3 B 
 
378 
 
 NUK-RA 
 NtJH 
 
 Nu-si 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Any depressed tract. A common name for oases. P. 99 
 f.n. 4. 
 
 "Noah," p. 100 f.n. i. 
 
 A natural grass of Najd, pp. 51, 82, 269. 
 
 Ojian 
 
 Ophir 
 
 Pp. 12 fn. 3, 27. 
 
 Ottoman . . . . 
 For page references v. In- 
 dex ii. 
 
 o 
 
 [In Arabic, U'-indn, the root-idea in which is abiding!] 
 The name of the Arabian kingdom, the capital of which is 
 Muscat, pp. 25, 32, 253. 
 
 In one treatise, not older than 1848, 80 pages are occupied 
 with the different theories which have been propounded re- 
 specting the site of Ophir. A later authority thus, in our 
 opinion, conclusively settles the point : — 
 
 "It is quite plain from Gen. x. 29, that Ophir belonged to 
 Southern Arabia, from which the Phoenicians still derived gold and 
 precious stones in the time of Ezekiel (xxvii. 22). All attempts to 
 place Ophir in India, or on the east coast of Africa (Sofala), are at 
 variance with Gen. x. It is true that Indian products were also 
 brought to Solomon (i Kings x. 22); but these are not said to have 
 come from Ophir, and therefore we cannot even be sure that Ophir 
 was the emporium where the Indian trade and the Western met, as 
 they did in Southern Arabia in later times." ^ 
 
 Niebuhr, in Description de I'Arabe, arrives at the conclusion 
 that Ophir probably was situated somewhere between Aden 
 and Dha-far. In Baron von Brede's learned paper in the 
 Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. xiv. p. no, 
 the name Ophir is interpreted red ; and it is also stated that 
 certain tribes of Hadh-ra-maut call themselves men of the red 
 country, and the Red Sea, Bahru 7 opJiir. The fact that 
 the name " Ophir " has for its first letter a different symbol 
 in the Biblical and in Arabic writings respectively, does not 
 necessarily preclude the explanation of it from the latter 
 language, in which names derived from colour are extremely 
 prevalent. The Arabs of the desert call the wild pig ifr, 
 probably because his colour resembles that of the ground. 
 The JINN have for one of their designations i'f-rit. La-bid 
 bestows on the calf of a wild cow which a lion had seized, 
 the epithet mtt-a'f-far, meaning either The dust-coloured, or 
 The one that has been rolled in the dust. The only per- 
 manent settlement between Mosul and Sinjar is Tall 
 a'-FAR — i.e., the hill of a reddish colour. 
 
 The English form of the descriptive which the Arabs write 
 " U'th-ma-ni," and the Turks, " Osmanli " ; meaning anything 
 belonging to the race or dynasty of U'th-mAn, or " Osman," 
 the founder of the present " Turkish " empire. 
 
 ' Ency. Brit., vol. xvii. p. 780. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 379 
 
 PA-LAN The Persian pack-saddle, p. 318 f.n. 3. 
 
 Pa-sha, Ba-sha ; PAd-sha, An Aryan word. The Constantinople Government bestows 
 BAd-sha. it as a title, like our " Lord." Under the Muslim rulers of 
 
 India, the Emperor of Delhi was the " Padsha" ; while each 
 
 great feudatory of the empire was styled a " Naw-wab," or 
 
 Viceroy. Pp. 44. I34- 146, I53- 
 
 PUSHT I KtTH . . [In Persian, Back of the mountain?^ The mountains which 
 
 P. 149 fn I. separate " Lur-istan " from Asiatic Turkey are collectively 
 
 known by this name. Numerous rich valleys, and some of 
 the best pasture-grounds in Persia, here present themselves. 
 A semi-nomad people, of the Lur, or Luri, branch of the 
 old Iranian stock called Fai-Ii, maintain their independence 
 within the limits of Pusht i Kuh. A native chief, on whom 
 the Shah of Persia confers the title of Wall, exercises patri- 
 archal authority over them. Nominally, they are Muslim of 
 the Shi a' ; but in religion as in other respects they more 
 resemble the pagan Kurds than the Persians. A kft-la, 
 or booth, woven of leafy branches, is preferred by them to 
 the tent, and every ki'c-la is defended by a separate inclosure 
 of thorny fencing. In summer they live in the mountains, 
 and in winter in the plains. These Hnes are written at 
 Dih-ba-la, or High-town, the summer-quarters of Hu-sain 
 Ku-li Khan, chief of the Lurs. With the aid of an enter- 
 prising Swiss merchant, who in his last journey fell from his 
 horse and was killed, a demesne and palace recalling some 
 of Marco Polo's descriptions have uprisen at Dih-ba-la ; but 
 this modern " old man of the mountain " prefers to occupy a 
 booth in the open, where all his clan and progeny can see 
 him. His hospitality leaves nothing to be desired ; and yet 
 it is not without a peculiar feeling that one receives the daily 
 tray of fruit or game, by the hands of the herculean Luri 
 whose hereditary functions include that of hewing off the 
 head of any one who has flinched in the foray, or otherwise 
 incurred the Wall's anger. A figurative rather than positive 
 regiment of about 200 ragged musketeers is hutted and ra- 
 tioned at Dih-ba-la. The older men relate that they saw the 
 English gunboats in vain bombard Mu-ham-ma-ra in 1857; 
 " in vain," seeing that although our countrymen took the town 
 they did not retain it ! The only trophy which Pusht i Kuh 
 has yielded to us is a head of the Buz KU-HI, or mountain- 
 goat of Persia — the Ba-DA-NA of Central Arabia, and Stein- 
 boc (Capra ibex) of Europe. In the Luri mountains it is not 
 uncommon to see the horns of these wary creatures rising 
 against the sky-line, at elevations to which only a chamois- 
 hunter could climb ; but the solitary males descend at night 
 
3 So 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 PUSHT I l\.^n—-contmncd. 
 
 to easier regions. Hu-sain Ku-li Khan's country is famed 
 for its mules. Tlie only really first-class riding-mule that we 
 have ever ridden is one which belongs to his principal hench- 
 man, but it is the pick of many hundreds. The Luri chief 
 trusts to Arabian mares and Martini-Henrys in his raids 
 on the Ba-nu Lam and other Arab flock-masters. He cap- 
 tures the mares of the Arabs in foray, and keeps his followers 
 well mounted by means of buying, taking, and breeding. Al- 
 most every winter he and a merchant of Kirman-shah despatch 
 in partnership a number of horses to the Bombay market. 
 
 R 
 
 Rab-dan 
 
 Ra-bi 
 
 Ra-dhi 
 
 Ra-dif 
 
 RAH-HA-Lt-YA 
 
 Rah-man 
 
 Rak-ka . 
 
 Ra-ma-dhan . . . . 
 [In Turkey, Persia, and In- 
 dia, " Ramzan."] 
 
 Ra-MAK . 
 
 RAs . 
 
 Ra-sa-lin 
 
 Ra-san . 
 Ra-sh1d . 
 
 Rash-ma . 
 
 RA-StfL . 
 
 [Ash-colotired, whence, the ostrich.] The name of a strain 
 in the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 Spring, p. 50 f.n. 2. 
 
 \^One who is satisfied^ A guide's name, p. 38. 
 
 One who rides behind another, on the back of the same 
 beast, pp. 36 f.n. 3, 61. [In the Ottoman service, the "Re- 
 serves " are termed the " Ra-dif."] 
 
 \Saddling of camels?^ The name of a palm oasis, and 
 ancient settlement, in the desert west of Kar-ba-la, p. 42. 
 The inhabitants occupy two townships, which are at some 
 distance apart. Apparently they cultivate little else than 
 dates, with, under the palm-trees, lucerne. 
 
 Of which Ra-HIM is a synonymous form, meaning com- 
 passionate, as a part of men's names, p. 107 et fn. i. 
 
 An ancient settlement [Alexander's Nicephorium] on the 
 Euphrates, in N. Al Jazira, at the mouth of the Bi-likh, p. 63. 
 
 {Vehemence of heat?\ The ninth lunar month in the Muslim 
 calendar, which is set apart for fasting, p. 160 et L-n. i. [In 
 the year in which the pagan Arabs re-named their months, 
 the month which received this name chanced to fall in the 
 season of heat.] 
 
 Some Bedouin nations use this word as a synonym of 
 Fa-RAS, q. V. P. 238 fn. 2. 
 
 A town in Najd, p. 32 fn. i. 
 
 [Root-idea, rival}y^^ The name of a subdivis. of the Sba' 
 Aeniza, Table p. 121. 
 
 V. illustration, p. 140. In the sense of a "strain" of horses, 
 p. 236. 
 
 [Root-idea, straightness^ An epithet much used in names 
 and titles among the Arabs. " Ha-runu 'r Ra-shid," or Aaron 
 the Just (or Orthodox), is an example, p. 98. 
 
 [A 7?ia7-k, or impression, e.g. of a seal or chain.] The Bedouin 
 riding-halter, described and illustrated, p. 140, et v. p. 313. 
 
 [Root-idea, sending:] An apostle. [ V. art. Na-bi, supra.] 
 P. 4 fn. I. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 381 
 
 Rasu 'l a'in . 
 
 Rasu 'l Fi-da-wI 
 
 Rasu 'l hadd 
 
 Rau-A' . 
 Ra-wi-a . 
 
 Raz-za-za . . . . 
 [Ar] Rt-adh . . . . 
 [PI. of Rau-dha.] 
 
 Rl-JA-jiL . . . . . 
 
 Rl-KAB 
 
 [Common pronunciation, ri- 
 chdb.'\ 
 
 RiKHL 
 
 RiM . 
 
 Rl-SHAN . 
 RUBB 
 
 [Ar] Rub-u' 'l KHA-Li 
 
 RU-DAN . 
 RlJM 
 
 \Hcad of the spring.'] In N.W. Al Ja-ZI-RA, the sources 
 of the Khci-bur river [p. 75], where long ago the city of 
 Ra-si-na flourished. 
 
 \Leader of tJie "enfants perdus," v. in art. AlamOt, supra?\ 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-sa, Table p. 235 col. i., 
 et 1^. 213 fn. I. 
 
 \Head or point of tlie boundary?^ The extreme eastern 
 shoulder of the Arabian peninsula at the entrance of the 
 Gulf of Oman, p. 26. 
 
 [Fem. of ar-iva\ strong-hearted.'] The name of a strain in 
 Al Kham-sa, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 [The pouring out of tvater.] The primitive Arabs called the 
 maker and reciter of verses a rd-zui-a, precisely as the orator 
 is sometimes called among us a"spouter." P. 234. 
 
 A small oasis in Sha-mi-ya, S.W. of Kar-BA-LA, p. 83. 
 
 l^The ivatered lands or gardejis.] The name of the second 
 Wahabite capital of Najd, pp. 32 fn. i, 36, 42, 44, 45, 58, 164, 
 250, 251. 
 
 [PI. of a plural: singular, i-aful=vir^ "Manly men," 
 pp.42, 211. 
 
 A stirrup, v. illustration, p. 148. Rikdb means, as does 
 mar-kab [although the latter is much specialised in the sense 
 of a ship], that on whicli one rides., particularly camels. The 
 desert Arab, like the ancient Grecian hero, trusts to his 
 agility, with or without the aid of his spear-shaft, in mounting 
 and dismounting. It is not known when the Arabs first 
 saw a stirrup ; but from their naming it rikdb they would 
 appear to regard it as a means of mounting. The ordinary 
 I'raki horseman seems to consider that the main use of his 
 stirrups is to enable him to double up his legs half-way to 
 his mouth, and by putting himself to bed as it were on his 
 horse, the sooner give him a sore back. 
 
 A ewe-lamb, p. no. 
 
 The name of an antelope, the identification of which is 
 disputed, v. p. 14S fn. i. [To support the suggestion that 
 the " rim " of Arab poetry is cervine, not bovine, a verse of 
 Im-ra-u '1 Kais might be quoted, in which it is said that the 
 ground, in a certain favourite spot, owing to the droppings of 
 the a-rdm [plural of ;-/;«], appeared to be covered zuith black 
 pepper beriHes.] 
 
 \_Fcathered?\ The name, in the sense of winged or volant, 
 of a strain in the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 Fruit-juice, inspissated, p. 234 ct fn. i. 
 
 V. pp. 25, 26. 
 
 \E,asy-paced?^ The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, 
 Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 The Arabs thus pronounce " Rome," p. 44. The name 
 Rome has been differently applied by them at different 
 periods. Sometimes they have understood by it Europe at 
 
382 
 
 RtJM — contimi cd. 
 
 RUMH 
 
 RUS-TAM 
 
 RU-WA-LA 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 large. Another of its meanings has been " all the lands of 
 the Romans " ; and another, the Byzantine empire. In our 
 day they mean by "Rum" the Osmanli empire. In the 
 Orthodox Greek Church, " New Rome " still lingers as the 
 official designation of Constantinople, which the Turks call 
 Istamboul or Stamboul. 
 
 The long Bedouin spear, p. 75. 
 
 The son of Zal, a Goliath of the old Iranian kingdom, 
 whom the Persian Homer Fir-du-si chose as the hero of his 
 great national epic, the Shah NA-MAH, or Book of Kings, 
 p. 283. 
 
 [Root-idea said to be saHva?[ Tlie name of a great divis. 
 of the Aeniza, Table pp. 59, 61 fn. i, 68, 121, 210. 
 
 Sa-a'd 
 Sa-BA 
 
 Murder of ■ 
 
 -, a grandson of Amir Fai-sal of Najd, p. 42. 
 The inscriptions which have been discovered in south- 
 western Arabia throw new light on the reference in Gen. x. 
 29 to a people whose name was Sa-ba (" Sheba "). Pp. 27, 
 28, gj, 99 fn. 3. [Under the interpretation that sa-bd 
 means to make a trading journey, it is conjectured that at 
 the period referred to in Genesis the Sabaeans ^ occupied a 
 
 1 It is mentioned in the text, p. 28 f.n. 2, that the 
 "Sabfeans," or ancient Yemenites, aie no longer confused 
 with the sect of the " Sa-bi-tVna. " Tlie former name is 
 now but a term of history. The latter belongs to certain 
 descendants of the ancient Semite population of Chaldea 
 who still exist as a small community of artisans and cul- 
 tivators in lower Babylonia. The first time that we en- 
 tered El I'rak, a deputation of these people came on board 
 the steamer at Bussorah, bearing a petition which they re- 
 quested us to forward to England. The honest mariner in 
 command of the vessel was one of those who keep varied 
 stores of information on Eastern topics for the benefit of trav- 
 ellers. The account which he gave of the " Sabians " was, 
 that they were " Christians of St John," who built no 
 churches, married only one wife, and considered themselves 
 under the protection of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It 
 afterwards appeared, from a considerable literature which 
 e.xists on this subject [v. ' Edinburgh Review,' July 1880), that 
 most of these statements were erroneous. The question of 
 whether the " Sa-bi-u-na " possess churches depends on what 
 is understood by a church. They erect edifices which they 
 consecrate with a singular ritual ; but only priestly persons 
 may enter them, and the congregation responds from out- 
 side. They are so far from being Christians, that both 
 Judaism and Christianity are abhorrent to them. All the 
 Biblical personages, from Adam to John and Jesus, appear 
 as false prophets in their theology or mythology. Their 
 lustral or ablutionary ceremonies (whence "Sabian," from 
 sd-it, in Syria a ■washer) tend to group them with those dis- 
 ciples of John, or "Yah-ya," who held aloof from Chris- 
 tianity ; but that does not justify us in connecting them with 
 "John the Baptist" of our Gospels. Whether they shall 
 
 marry one wife, or several, is regulated by their circum- 
 stances. Al Kur-An commends them to toleration under 
 the name of Sd-lii-il-na (Su-ra v.) More properly they are 
 " Mandfeans," lit. Gnostics. In truth theirs is an exceedingly 
 ancient religion, in the light of which nearly all other well- 
 developed religions may profitably be studied. .(Eons, or 
 emanations, from an origin of all things, compose the ground- 
 work ; and the greatest figure in the system of the Mandteans, 
 from whom they take their name, is the '' Messenger of Life," 
 Manda d' hayye, who is also called the "primal man." 
 Even such scholarship as Dr Noldeke's confesses itself 
 unable to fathom the profundities which are contained in the 
 Scriptures of the Manda^ans. Their " priests " are more of 
 magic-men, devil-exorcisers, and astrologers, than teachers. 
 When a house is being designed, a priest is fetched to mark 
 out the lines, and fix the position of the doors. In sickness 
 the sovereign medicine is a priest's amulet. Apparently, 
 however, the " holy men " themselves prefer natural to divine 
 assistance. A priest of the Sabians has just come to Baghdad 
 in a Lynch's steamer, to ask the surgeon of the British Con- 
 sulate to cure him of a sore leg. Attempts to obtain from 
 this old man an account of his sect's theology are always frits- 
 trated by his bringing the conversation round to the subject 
 of a possible subsidy from Lambeth. He wears blue stones 
 as ornaments. This may refer to the Mandtean conception 
 that a turquoise mountain separates earth from paradise. But 
 the Turks also, and the Sikhs of India, esteem the blue col- 
 our ; and the Sin-jar Ya-zI-dis {q. v. infra), while attracted by 
 blue objects, think blue clothes too sacred to be worn. The 
 old man now referred to stoutly testifies against celibacy. He 
 also repudiates fasting ; but, like his Muslim neighbours, has 
 obligatory prayers, and kills meat in the name of the Divine. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 383 
 
 Sa-ba — continued. 
 
 SA-BAT 
 
 Sab-bah 
 
 Sab-ba-ha-ka 'llah bi 'l 
 
 Khair. 
 Sa-bil 
 
 [As] Sa-bik 
 Sab-kha . 
 Sab-ta 
 
 Sab-za (Persian) 
 Sa'-dan . 
 
 Sa'-d1 
 
 [Another form of Su-u'd, q. v., 
 and of many other deriva- 
 tives.] 
 
 Sa-dir 
 Sa-fa-ri . 
 Sa-GAR [for sakr] 
 Sa-hib 
 
 Sah-ra 
 
 subordinate position in Yemen, and did not rise to promi- 
 nence till later. Owing to the great place which the heavenly 
 bodies held in the religion of ancient Yemen, Sabaeanism is 
 often used as another name for astral worship.] 
 
 The "summer-house" of the desert Arabs, p. 81. 
 
 The name of a strain in the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table 
 p. 235 col. vi. The name of one of the Prophet Muhammad's 
 chargers, p. 230 f n. 2. 
 
 The " Good morning" of the Arabs, p. 159 fn. 4. 
 
 The little bowl of clay, or wood, or bone, in which the 
 Arab smokes tobacco, p. 164 fn. 3. To make the "chi-buk" 
 of the Turks and Turco-Arabs, an ornamented wooden stem, 
 at least a yard long, which is called a sha-tub (lit. paliii- 
 brancJi) is fitted to the sa-bil. In the " kal-li-an," or " nar-jil " 
 {coca-HJit), of the Shah's dominions, the smoke passes through 
 water. The Persian " water-pipe " is much relished in Turkey 
 also, where its name is modified into " nargila." 
 
 F. p. 131 fn. 3. 
 
 Marshy land, which yields salt, p. 82. 
 
 The leather plaits which the Bedouin of both sexes bind 
 round the naked loins, p. 140. [Other names are brim ; and 
 in classic Najd, hag-gu, for ha-ku, from a word for the loins.] 
 
 One of the colours of Arabian horses, Table p. 263, col. of 
 remarks. 
 
 The name of a strain in the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, sug- 
 gested by the desert shrub, sa'-ddn, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 This name was assumed in honour of a royal patron, by 
 one who was destined to make it shine for ever with no 
 borrowed lustre, Mu-SHAR-RAFU 'D DIN, the son of Mus-Ll-HU 
 'd din, of Shi-raz. The great poet-teacher of the Eastern 
 world was born at Shi-raz, about A.D. 11 84. He was a 
 travelling, not a sedentary, student. His schools included El 
 I'rak and Central Asia, Syria and India, Yemen and Abys- 
 sinia. In his old age he returned to his native Persia, to 
 meditate on all that he had seen, and learned, and written ; 
 and it was not till his iioth lunar year that death sum- 
 moned him away from his pleasant rose-gardens in Shi-raz. 
 V. quotations or translations from his works, pp. 12, 45, 114 
 fn. I, 133, 134 fn. I, 191, 276, 291, 305. 
 
 The name of a province of Najd, pp. 32 fn. i, 43. 
 
 A season of the year, p. 50 f n. 2. 
 
 A hunting hawk, or falcon, p. 152 ^/ fn. 2. 
 
 [Primarily a companion, whence a protector, also possessor, 
 e.g. of a quality.] In India, "Sa-hib" is used as a title of 
 respect, like " Beg" in Turkey, p. 194. 
 
 The Arabic word which in our maps appears as " Sahara," 
 or desert, pp. 18, 60. 
 
384 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Sai-yid . 
 Pp. 281, 301. 
 
 Sakar . . . . 
 Pp. So et f.n. 2, 54 f.n. i. 
 
 Sake 
 Sak-la-wi 
 
 Sak-la-wi-ya . 
 
 [As] Sa-la-tin 
 
 [PI. of Stil-tdn?[ 
 Sal-ga 
 Sa-l1-la . 
 Sal-ma . 
 
 SA-Ltr-Kl . 
 
 Sa-mar-ra 
 
 Sa-ma-wa 
 Sam-han . 
 
 Lord, or Master, especially applied to the Prophet Muham- 
 mad. Those of the race of Muhammad, through Husain's 
 son Zainu '1 a'-bi-din, the sole male survivor of the slaughter 
 at Kar-ba-la, are distinguished in Arabia by the title of 
 " Sai-yid," or collectively, " Sa-dat." In India, " Sai-yid " 
 is merely a component part of the name of those who bear it. 
 
 The primary idea contained in this word is inebriation, and 
 it occurs in Al Kur-AN in the generic sense of ivine. [In 
 numerous languages the same word signifies those saccharine 
 principles in vegetable and animal juices, from which intoxi- 
 cating beverages are produced by spontaneous fermentation.] 
 
 The name of one of the Prophet Muhammad's chargers, p. 
 230 f n. 2. 
 
 The name (it is said with the meaning of long, ox great, of 
 flank) of one of the primary divisions of Al Kham-SA, Table 
 p. 235 col. ii. It is a matter of tradition among the desert Arabs 
 that long ago a Shekh named Jid-ran {v. art. Jid-ra-nI, supra) 
 possessed three famous mares. One of the trio, that called 
 after him is held to have transmitted her blood down to our 
 day. The second was given, or bequeathed, to Jid-ran's 
 slave ; and she and her descendants are now spoken of as the 
 Sak-la-wi-ya 'l a'bd {v. Table p. 235 col. ii.), or "Saklawi- 
 ya of the slave." The third mare suffered a misalliance, and 
 her owner would have cut her throat, had not his brother 
 U-bair begged her from him, and obtained her, under the 
 stipulation that her descendants should be called by the name 
 of U-bair, not by that of Jid-ran. 
 
 A revenue outpost of the Baghdad Government, on the east 
 bank of the Euphrates, three days west of Baghdad, p. 84 fn. i. 
 
 \^The masterfnl?^ The name of a horde of the Aeniza, 
 Table p. 121. 
 
 The Aeniza group of the , p. 149. 
 
 The name of a part of Najd, p. 32 f n. i. 
 
 [From the same root as Is-LAM, q. v?\ A "long bluish 
 chain" of N. Central Arabia, which is part of the Ta-i, or 
 Sham-mar, mountains, p. 39. 
 
 The name of a strain under Mi'-ni-k1, in the stock of 
 Ku-HAI-LAN, Table p. 235 col. vi. [Either the progeny of a 
 mare which resembled the Arab slA-gi, or greyhound ; or the 
 progeny of a mare belonging to a man who was so character- 
 ised, or named.] 
 
 A tomb hamlet, and place of Shi-ite pilgrimage on the site 
 of a historic city, on the east bank of the Tigris, below Tak- 
 rit, p. 78 f n. 3. 
 
 A small permanent settlement of the Lower Euphrates 
 marsh-land, pp. 84 fn. i, 85. 
 
 The name of a strain in the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table 
 p. 235 col. vi. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 385 
 
 San-a' 
 
 Sa-nam 
 
 Sa-rab 
 Sard-Ab 
 
 Sard-garm 
 
 Sa-ri 
 
 Sarj 
 
 Sar-ra-e . 
 Sa-wa-kin 
 
 Sa-wa-ni . 
 
 [PI. of Sd-ni-a. 
 Sa-yih 
 
 Sba' . 
 
 Sbai-l! . 
 SfCtk 
 
 Sha-ba-ka 
 Sha'-ban . 
 " Shah-rukh " 
 
 [Root-idea, manufacturing, or constructing?^ The capital of 
 Yemen, and the centre of a large district which takes its 
 name from the city, pp. 28, 97. 
 
 The highest part, or hump, of the camel's back, p. 294 
 f.n. I. 
 
 {^Rtinning?\ The mirage,^ p. 81 (?^ f.n. 5. 
 [Persian.] The depressed, but not subterranean, apartment 
 or cellar in which they spend the hot hours of the day in El 
 Prak and other countries, p. Si. 
 
 A term of the Indians for a certain phase of climate, p. 
 315 f.n. 2. 
 
 \Going along, or jotirneying, especially by night?] The name 
 of a subdivis. of the Fid-a'n Aeniza, Table p. 121. 
 
 [By .some said to be Persian.] A saddle, pp. 144 fn. i, 147 
 with illustration. 
 
 The name of a horde of El Prak, p. 84 fn. i. 
 [PI. of sd-kin = settled, or stationary?] The well-known port 
 of the Bi-ld-du 's Sii-ddn, or Country of the Blacks (the 
 " Soudan " ), on the Red Sea, p. 27. 
 
 The camel which works the well in Central Arabia ; also 
 the whole irrigational apparatus, p. 47 f n. 3. 
 
 \^Sho7tter, as in Al Ghaz-u.] The name of a sept of the 
 Sham-mar, pp. 83, 122 fn. 5, 281. 
 
 [From sa-bu', the Hon.] The name of one of the primary 
 divisions of the Aeniza, pp. 63 f.n. i, 107, 121 in Table, 122, 
 125, 270, 271. 
 
 The name of a strain under Mi'-Nl-Kl, in the stock of 
 Ku-HAI-LAN, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 The patronymic of each succeeding Shekh of the division 
 of the Sham-mar which now possesses Al Jazira. [The 
 local explanation of the name is that it signifies bloodshed; 
 and that the first " Sfuk " received this sobriquet because of 
 a war which happened in his time between his people and 
 the Wahabis.] Pp. 122 fn. 5, 124 et fn. i. 
 
 [77/1? infixing of part to part, as in a lattice?] At p. 215, the 
 name of an Arabian mare. 
 
 The name of a horse, illustration, and reference, pp. 253 
 and 254. 
 
 \^ShaJis coiintenance?\ The name of the Arabian horse de- 
 picted in frontispiece ; a namesake of Shah-RUKH, the son 
 of Tl-MUR I LANG, or "Tamerlane." 
 
 ' Al Kur-an, in comparing the works of unbelievers with 
 the mirage [S. xxiv.], uses the word sa-r&b. The same term 
 occurs in Isaiah xxxv. 7. The authors of the Revis. Vers, 
 translate it "glowing sand," and place "mirage" in the 
 margin. The poetic desert figure of the evanescent delusive 
 vapour being changed into running water is thus put on one 
 side. In Arabic, .ra-nii'< cannot mean "glowing sand." The 
 
 idea which the ancient Arabs attached to this word is known 
 from a passage in La-bid's Mu-a'l-LA-ka. A party of ladies 
 proceeding in their camel-litters, are described as separated 
 from a lover's gaze by the "sa-rab," under the effects of 
 which they appeared like the tamarisks and stony brows of 
 the valley of Bt-sha. In Arabic poetry another name for the 
 sa-r&b, especially that of the morning and evening, is &l. 
 
386 
 
 GLOSSARTAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Shah-wan 
 
 SHAI-Bi . 
 
 Sha-1'r . 
 Shak-ra . 
 
 Shal-fa . 
 
 Sham 
 Sha-m1-ya 
 
 Sham-mar 
 
 Sham-mar Toga 
 
 SHA-NtN . 
 
 Sha-ra-b1 
 Sha-ra-rAt . 
 
 Shar-ban 
 
 Sha-ri-a' . 
 Sha-rIf . 
 
 Shar-k1 
 
 Shar-rAk 
 
 The name of a strain in the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table 
 p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 [Hon! J.] Ut supra. 
 
 Barley, p. 80 f.n. 3. 
 
 A town of Najd, p. 32 f.n. i. Fern, of ash-kar — i.e., a 
 chesnut mare, Table p. 262. 
 
 A variety of the Bedouin riiinJi, or spear, in which the iron 
 head, or si-nan, is very broad, p. 75. 
 
 The country so named, p. 65. 
 
 The well-known desert tract on the Upper Euphrates, pp. 
 20, 23, 42, 58, 63, 65-69, 79, 103, los, 136, 175, 212, 214, 218, 
 236, 242, 259, 269-276, 293, 319. 
 
 The great Bedouin nation so named, pp. 23, 39 f.n. i, 63 
 f.n. I, 64, 70-77, 85, 103, 122, 123, 124, 125, 129, 139, 210, 264, 
 293, 294. [Numerous etymologies of this word have been 
 extracted from lexicons, or from the imagination, but it is 
 useless to discuss them.] 
 
 A people of El I'rak, pp. 84 f.n. I, 122. [The root of" Toga " 
 is that of tu-ivaik, q. v. art. Ja-bal Tu-WAIK, supra. The 
 " Sham-mar Toga," perhaps, received their designation, be- 
 cause subjugated by the Sham-mar.] 
 
 [Probably from the same root as sha-ni-na, butter-milk.] 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 The name of a strain under R!-ShAn, in the stock of 
 Ku-hai-lAn, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 A migratory people, whose di-ras are situated in, and near, 
 WA-DI SiR-HAN towards Central Arabia, pp. 16, 39 f.n. i, 52, 
 59 f.n. 2, 1 28. 
 
 The name of a strain in the stock of Ku-HAI-lAn, Table 
 p. 235 col. vi. [An Arab says that "shar-ban" means an 
 animal which, witJiout having drunk, is as though it had 
 done so?\ 
 
 A way of access to a river, i.e. a cutting made through its 
 bank, for the use of men and cattle, p. 73. 
 
 [Elevated.] In Arabia, the " Shu-RA-FA," pi. oi sha-rif, are 
 the descendants of the Prophet through the two sons of Hasan. 
 The " Shu-ra-fa " devote themselves to war and government, 
 and leave theology and letters to the " SA-dAt," pi. of Sai- 
 YID, q. V. supra. Pre-eminent among the Shu-RA-fA is " THE 
 Sha-rif" who forms the modern counterpart of the ancient 
 Amirs of Mecca, pp. 29, 117. 
 
 \y. in Table p. 235 col. i. sha-rtf \X'!.%A in its ordinary sense, 
 to distinguish a strain in Al Kham-SA.] 
 
 [From shark, lit. parting or breaking, whence, the rising of 
 the Sim, the eastern quarter, and the like.] At p. 80 f.n. 2, v. 
 a description of the shar-kt or " sharji," wind of El I'rak. 
 
 An Arab's name which has come down as that of a well- 
 known strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. iii. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 387 
 
 Shattu 'l A'rab 
 
 Shekh . 
 [For Shaikh.] 
 
 ShgAr .... 
 Shi-ah .... 
 
 Shi-a'i-fI ... 
 
 SHIB-Ri-YA 
 
 Shi-dad . . . . 
 
 Shil-u . ... 
 
 Shi-mal .... 
 [For Slia-vial or Shain-al?\ 
 
 Sni-MA-Lt 
 
 Shim-LAN 
 
 Shi-ta .... 
 Shi-tha-tha . 
 P. 42. 
 
 Shit-ranj 
 
 \_Rivcr of the Arabs^ The united Tigris and Euphrates, 
 from Gurna to the Gulf of Persia, pp. 20, 74, 78 f n. 3, 85, 283. 
 [Only a first-class river receives the name of sliatt. The 
 Arabs call a minor stream nahr ; a brook, jad-iual ; and a 
 rill, sa-ki-a?\ 
 
 This widely-known title of respect corresponds with our 
 " elder." The superiority which is indicated by it may be that 
 of birth, or of years, or of prowess, or of learning, according to 
 the ideals of different communities. In India, the use of the 
 word as a part of men's names has all but effaced its distinc- 
 tiveness. In Persia and the towns of El I'rak, any one who 
 possesses a large turban may play the Shekh. Pp. 52, 61, 71, 
 72,76, 83, 85, 104, 107, 112 fn. I, 124, 125, 131, 134, 136, 138. 
 
 A certain blemish in Arabian horses, p. 313. 
 
 [PI. of shat, wild creatures^ The name of a strain in 
 Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 \_Sineared or smearing ivitli ia/:] Ut supra, col. ii. 
 
 A kind of knife or dagger, p. 46 fn. i. 
 
 \Tliat which is made fast on a beast's back.'] Another name 
 for the rahl ox camel-saddle, p. 301. 
 
 [Light of fleshy The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, 
 Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 The north or north-west wind. In most regions this is the 
 wind for which the Arabs pray, p. 80. 
 
 [From the quarter of the north ivind^ Shi-ma-li horses, pp. 
 272 et f n. 2, 273. 
 
 The name of a horde of the I'ma-rat Aeniza, Table p. 121. 
 
 Winter, p. 50 fn. 2. 
 
 A very great "mother of dates" in Sha-mi-ya, a day's journey 
 west of Kar-ba-Ia. Belts of palm cultivation, extending for 
 several miles, embrace a natural spring, which fills an open 
 pond or pool with tepid and fetid mineral water. Our visit 
 to Shi-tha-tha took place in winter, when the ordinary streams 
 were more or less frozen ; but the water in the central pond 
 maintained its high temperature. The inhabitants are of the 
 Shi-i'. The only Sun-nis are the Osmanli officials. It would 
 appear that the Jews once possessed this oasis, as they 
 did Yath-rib. It contains many imposing, though ruinous, 
 chateaux, some of which still bear the names of otherwise 
 forgotten Jew owners. 
 
 Chess, p. 54 f n. 2. [Shit-ranj is considered to be a Persian 
 corruption of chatti-ranga, in Sanscrit, the fotir angas — i.e., 
 four members, of an army ; scil., elephants, horses, chariots, 
 and foot-soldiers. The " king " and " queen " of the English 
 game play corresponding parts in the Eastern one also. Our 
 " knight," " bishop," " castle," and " pawn " respectively, are 
 the " horse," " camel," " elephant," and " foot-soldier " of the 
 Asiatic chess-board.] 
 
388 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Shu-a'i-la 
 Shu-ra-ba-tu 'r rih 
 
 Shu-wai-man . 
 
 Sl-Dl 
 SiD-Li 
 
 SlM-RI 
 
 Sin-jar 
 
 SiN-JA-RA 
 SiR-HAN . 
 
 SI-TAMU 'L Bt>-LAD 
 
 Sleb, or SlebI 
 
 [More correctly, Su-LAI-Bi, 
 collectively, As Su-LA-BA.] 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Khaai-SA, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 The name of an African race of Arabian horses, p. 253 ei 
 f n. 6. 
 
 [Diminutive of shd-jiia, a i?iole, also one of the markings in 
 horse's coats which are referred to at p. 264.] The name of 
 a strain in the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 [From as-zvad, black.'] The negro, p. 107 fa. 3. 
 The name of a strain under Ml'-NI-KI, in the stock of Ku- 
 HAI-lAn, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 [ZrtWKj'.] The name of a strain in Al Kham-sa, Table 
 p. 235 col. iv. 
 
 The name of a mountain-range, and of an ancient settle- 
 ment, between Mosul and Der, pp. 5, 6 et fn. 3, 73, 74, 75, 
 yj in illustration, 124 fn. i, 133. 
 
 The name of a subdivis. of the Sham-mar, p. 122. 
 [Mea7ideri?ig] Wa-di Sir-han [pp. 37, 52, 75] is the name 
 of a long and sinuous depression "bearing, in the main, 
 from north-west to south-east, or nearly so," which extends 
 across half the northern desert, from Al Hau-ran, to Al 
 Jauf. [The dkeb, or wolf, is poetically designated AbA sir- 
 hdn, or Father of prowling, because of his circuitous gait ; 
 and probably " Wadi Sir-han " owes the epithet which serves 
 as its name to the same feature.] 
 
 \_Sine'ws of steel or zj'ou.] The name of a strain under JlL- 
 FAN, in the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 A people of high antiquity in Arabia, whose origin is un- 
 known, p. 74. In many respects the Su-la-ba, or " Sleb," 
 are the counterpart of our gipsies. Asses are their only 
 cattle. Wherever they wander, from Syria to Najd, their 
 skill as joiners. Tubal Cains, and implement-makers gains 
 them a welcome. They are also the herbalists and horse- 
 surgeons of the desert. They display the true gipsy light- 
 heartedness ; and their songs and musical instruments would 
 repay investigation. Before all things they excel in hunting. 
 The Bedouin do not regard them as Arabs. " Ki-labu '1 kha- 
 la," or wild dogs, is one of the contemptuous names which 
 they give to them ; but they also say that all the game of the 
 desert belongs to them. When the Bedouin are starving, the 
 Su-la-ba will be gathered round messes of venison. [The 
 word which in literary Arabic denotes " the Cross," is " Sa-lib," 
 and this has given rise to the conjecture that the "Sleb" may 
 have a Christian history. But the primary meaning of the 
 Arabic root sib is simply strength, or stiffness. The word 
 for the backbone is su-lnb. The Bedouin call the two small 
 pieces of wood which they place crossways in the mouth 
 of the leathern well-bucket to keep it open, sa-lt-bdn. In 
 Persia and India, sa-la-bat, with the sense oi firmness, has 
 entered into many high-sounding titles.] 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 389 
 
 SU-BAI-n1, or ibn SUBAINi . The name of a family of Bedouin, after wliicli is called a 
 
 strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. ii. 
 
 Suez The well-known Egyptian port on the Red Sea, p. 20. [The 
 
 only reasonable conjecture on the point of etymology which 
 we have seen is, that " Su-zvais " may have originated in an 
 old word, which the Greeks Hellenised into oasis — i.e., an in- 
 habited spot in the desert.] 
 
 SC-FI The nearest English equivalent of this term perhaps is 
 
 " Theosophist." ^ A full account of Siif-ism would necessarily 
 include a review of all the appearances of " Mysticism," from 
 the days when the sages of ancient India were absorbed in 
 the problem of extrication from self, and assimilation to the 
 " Ultimate Unity," down to our time. But the Su-fis of El 
 Is-lam took their rise in Persia. From very ancient times the 
 Iranian soil has been the fruitful mother of new religions. 
 Accordingly, there is little wonder that, when a " plain 
 Kur-an " was summarily imposed upon it, a reactionary out- 
 burst of the old pantheistic ideas followed. Thus began 
 Persian Suf-ism, in the first century after Muhammad ; and 
 it still flourishes in El I'rak and Persia, Syria, Turkey, 
 Central Asia, and India. From the standpoint of the Arab 
 Prophet's teaching, Suf-ism is simply "Ku/i;" or " infidelity " ; 
 but the Su-fi masses, in leaving the paths of " sound doctrine " 
 for those of metaphysical speculation, keep hold at least of 
 the skirts of Shi-ite Islamism. 
 
 Most of us know how deeply Persian literature after the 
 Flight^ is indebted to Sufite elements, but looked at from 
 the practical side, Suf-ism is probably not unconnected with 
 the weakness of Persia as a nation. The foundations of 
 energy and effort are more or less sapped by it. Hafiz in 
 one of his Odes describes his mental state as so ecstatic, that 
 every object which he beheld set him a-weeping. Another 
 poetic inculcator of passivity compares the soul of the per- 
 fected Su-fi to the surface of a pellucid lake on which not a 
 mote can fall unnoticed. It is all very well for " emancipated 
 persons" to surrender themselves to conditions of this de- 
 scription ; but when a whole nation more or less inclines in 
 the same direction, the elements of strength are evidently 
 wanting. 
 
 SUF-RA A traveller's provisions, whence, the receptacle thereof, and 
 
 as it is customary to spread this out, at meal-times, anything 
 off tvhich one eats, p. 93 f.n. i . 
 
 1 It [is possible that " Su-fl " is from <ro<>><Jj ; but Eastern na" (meaning our Master) Ja-Hlu 'd din, Rii-mi, of our 13th 
 
 scholars derive the name from «?/; wool; under the explana- \ century. The Mas-na-vt contains between 30,000 and 
 
 tion that one of the early leaders of the movement, a cer- 
 tain Abu Sa-i'd, Urn Abi '1 Khair, and his disciples, wore 
 a distinctive garb of woollen stuff. 
 
 = Especially the works of Sa'-di and Ha-fiz ; and the 
 MAS-NA-vi Ma'-na-vi, or Spiritual Collection, of "Mau-la- 
 
 40,000 double - rhymed verses. A European scholar de- 
 scribes its author as "soaring on the wings of a genuine 
 enthusiasm high above earth and heaven, up to the throne of 
 Almighty God," and the poem, as a "production of the 
 highest poetical and religious intuition." 
 
390 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 SU-GUR . . . . 
 
 SU-HAIL . . . , 
 
 SU-HAI-NI 
 SU-KHAM ... 
 
 SuKu 'SH Shu-yOkh 
 
 SU-LAI-MAN 
 SU-LAI-MA-Ni-YA . 
 
 SUL-TAN . 
 
 SU-MAI-SAT et Sam-SAT 
 
 SU-MUT [pi. of silllt] 
 
 Sun-nI and ShI-i' 
 \_A7tglice, "Sun-nite" 
 
 " Shi-ite."] 
 Pp. 113 f.n. 2, 159, 281. 
 
 and 
 
 [PI. of sakr, or " sagar," any game-catching hawk.] The 
 name of a horde of the Aeniza, Table p. 121. 
 
 Canopus, in constellation A. Argus. P. 50 fn. 2. [This 
 brilliant star crosses the meridian of Baghdad, in Lat. 33^ 21' 
 N., at 6 h. 13 m. A.M., 20th September; and rises at 9 h. 
 57 m. P.M.] 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-sa, Table p. 235 
 col. iii. 
 
 The name of a hound, p. 145. 
 
 A settlement of the Arabs, near the mouth of the Euphrates, 
 pp. 83, 85, 300. 
 
 The Arabic proper name, pp. 106, 227 et f n. 5. 
 
 A town on the Turco-Persian frontier, 200 miles east of 
 Baghdad. It is about 100 years old, and is named after a 
 Governor-General of the Baghdad Pashalik. Pp. 148, 159 f.n. 
 5, 281 f.n. 2. 
 
 [In Arabic, an absolute Jiiler.'] For page references to 
 H.I.M. the Sultan, v. Index ii. 
 
 [The ancient Samosata.] A site on the Euphrates (about 
 1200 miles above its embouchure) near which the river is con- 
 sidered to enter the Syrian plain, p. 71. 
 
 [A7ty suspended things?^ The Bedouin give this name to 
 the cords, often of variegated worsted, which they attach to 
 the cantle of the saddle, pp. 141 (in illustration) et 142. 
 
 Without overlooking the well-known fact that the etymo- 
 logical root of a word is not a safe guide to its signification, 
 we would just mention that, in the bare root-sense, Sun-nt 
 means one who follows the regular path, or customary law 
 {sun-na); and Skt-f, one who makes, or joins, a separate 
 party or sect {sM-a')} 
 
 The Shi-a', par excellence — i.e., the greatest schism which 
 the history of El Islam exhibits — is intimately associated with 
 the career of A'li ; so much so, that it is often called by his 
 name. In the lifetime of A'li, " the party of A'li " was, how- 
 ever, a political, not a theological, body ; and A'li himself was 
 not a " Shi-ite," but is often quoted as an authority in the 
 books of the Ha-dith. For the elucidation of this subject, 
 the fact must first be recalled that the commonwealth which 
 Muhammad founded was essentially a religious democracy. 
 The Prophet died sonless, and without explicitly indicating 
 a successor {Khalifa, or " Caliph "). The elective, as opposed 
 to the dynastic, principle was thus left all the freer ; and every 
 reader knows how Abu-bakr was chosen Caliph. Among the 
 disappointed candidates of course was the Prophet's son-in- 
 law and near kinsman, A'li, During all the time that the 
 
 ' In India, a member of the Shi-a' is called a " Shi-a' " ; 
 but in Arabia and El I'rak, they correctly say " Shi-a' " for 
 
 the sect, and "Shi-l' " for the adherent of it. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 391 
 
 Sun-nI and Slii-i' — continued. 
 
 Arab empire was being spread abroad, A'li persistently op- 
 posed the Government. His efforts, we know, so far pre- 
 vailed, that, in succession to U'th-man, he was nominated the 
 fourth Caliph ; but his capacity proved unequal to his am- 
 bition. After a series of reverses, he was assassinated at 
 Ku-fa, in El I'rak, by one of those puritanic soldiers and 
 genuine zealots who are described in article Kha-WA-RIJ, 
 S7ipra. After his death he was elevated to the rank of a 
 national hero ; ^ and the tragic fate which subsequently befell 
 his son Hu-sain, with many other members of the Ahlu 'l 
 BAIT, or family of the Prophet, at Karbala, further contributed 
 to render permanent the breach between the Sun-ni and the 
 Shi-i'. On the whole, it is open to doubt whether the historical 
 A'li possesses much in common with any of the divisions of 
 Islamism which have used his name. All's aim, as has just 
 appeared, was to press his own claims to the Caliphate," 
 chiefly on the grounds of his relationship to the Prophet. 
 From this point of view his cause was favoured by the 
 Persians, in whom the idea of hereditary monarchy is firmly 
 rooted. But Persia is also the ancient home {v. art. Su-FI, 
 supra) of conceptions diametrically opposed to Arabian 
 monotheism; and the Shi-a', or ^^ party of A'li," no sooner 
 became the national party of the Persian race than doc- 
 trines which A'li would have been the first to repudiate 
 were brought out as part of the true Is-lam, and spread 
 by means of emissaries over the Muslim world. 
 
 The Sunnitcs, including the Wahabis, are at least five 
 times as numerous as all the other divisions of Islamism 
 put together — that is, the Shi-ites (^' I thud a -sha-ri-ya"^ 
 " Is-md-z'-li-ya" and others), and the unconditional predes- 
 tinarian sect of A'bdu '11a ibn I-badh, the headquarters of 
 which is in Oman. It is sometimes represented that the 
 Sunnites stand in that relation to the other divisions of El 
 
 'The common representation that the Sun-nis "hold 
 A'li's memory in abhorrence " is ahogether erroneous. It is 
 true that the Sun-ni rabble, when they hear those of the 
 Shi-a' claiming for A'li more than human dignity, are apt, 
 in a spirit of sectarian protest, to disparage him ; but this 
 means nothing. After the massacre at Karbala, they cut off 
 the head of Husain, the son of A'li, and forwarded it to 
 Damascus. According to the historian Tabari (ii. 282), the 
 Caliph Ya-zid, when he received the trophy, struck with his 
 cane the senseless features. This action caused a profound 
 sensation; and a bystander exclaimed, "Put up thy cane! 
 By Allah ! how often have I seen the Prophet of God kiss 
 these lips!" It is superfluous to add that the same sym- 
 pathy with the Prophet's kindred is still prevalent. From 
 Abbaside times at least, all the Muslim have regarded A'li 
 and Husain as martyrs and heroes. No Arab, and no Muslim 
 who is above the level of the canaille, needs to learn from 
 Persians how to reverence A'li's memory. V. p. 239 f.n. 2. 
 
 '- If proof were wanting that A'li, according to contempo- 
 rary opinion, merely fought for himself, the rejection of his 
 cause by the Kha-wa-rij would supply it. These "soldiers 
 of the Faith" unquestionably constituted the only great 
 party which was in earnest in opposing the secularisation of 
 El Islam. At first they ranked among the numerous mal- 
 contents who made common cause with A'li ; but at a later 
 period they stubbornly refused to fight for him. Ultimately, 
 one of their number slew him. 
 
 ' Literally, Twelvers — i.e., votaries of the twelve " I- 
 mams," and de jure Caliphs, A'li and his eleven imme- 
 diate heirs through Fa-ti-ma. A tenet of the great mass of 
 Shi-ites is, that the last of these Imams was one Muham- 
 madu '1 Mahdi, of the 3d Islamic century. At Baghdad a 
 general belief pervades the Shi-a', that this Muhammad, of 
 whose death there is no record, is all this time lying perdu, 
 probably near Sa-mar-ra on the Tigris, biding the time when 
 he shall reappear to fill the world with righteousness. 
 
392 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 SUN-NI AND Shi-i' — continued. 
 
 Su-RA 
 
 Su-II'D et Sa-a'd 
 
 SU-WAH . 
 
 SU-WAI-LI-MAT 
 
 SU-WAI-Tt 
 
 Islam in which the Roman Catholic Church stands to the 
 Reformed sects of Christendom. The basis of this com- 
 parison of course is, that the Sun-nis trace back their 
 authoritative canon, both religious and political, withont any 
 interniption, to the Prophet ; while the Shi-a' ignores in 
 every possible manner the first three Caliphs.^ Up to 
 a certain point some such parallelism may be sustained ; but 
 when we have regard to the numerous superstitious beliefs 
 and embellishments which now form an integral part of the 
 Shi-a', we are more reminded of the Rom.an than of the 
 Protestant phase of Christianity. The term "worship" is too 
 ambiguous to be used rashly ; but the commemorative scenes 
 which are enacted every year at Karbala and Najaf, and at 
 the other great seats of the Shi-ite theology in El Prak and 
 Persia, attest the fullest possible development of the idea that 
 A'lt and his descendants are veritable deities. 
 
 The designation of the individual Pieces of Al Kur-AN, 
 V. p. xiv of prefixes of vol., in f.n. i. 
 
 Co-derivative proper names, implying the idea oi good for- 
 tune, which often occur in the annals of the Wahabite mon- 
 archy, pp. 39 fn. 2, 42, 43, 51, 162, 253. 
 
 The name of a strain in the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table 
 p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 [Plural of su-wai-li-nia, diminutive of sd-li-via, sotmd.'] The 
 name of a horde of the Aeniza, Table pp. 121, 136. 
 
 \_The strain belonging to tlie man zvith the little whip?\ 
 Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 Ta-ba-RI 
 
 Tad-mur . 
 Tai . 
 Ta-if 
 
 Tai-ma 
 
 T 
 
 Abu Ja'-far Muhammad, ibn Ja-ri-ri 't Ta-ba-ri (i.e., of 
 Tabaristan), was one of the ornaments of Baghdad in our 
 9th century. His two chief works are a great commentary 
 on the Kur-an, and his Annals. Books of Arabian history 
 and biography began to be written in Arabic in the 2d 
 century after the Flight ; but all these histories are more or 
 less thrown into the shade by the great work of Tabari. 
 P. 28 f.n. 4. 
 
 The well-known place-name, pp. 66 et f n. i, 100, 300. 
 
 A nation of the Bedouin, pp. 62 et f.n. 2, 75, 124. 
 
 An ancient town in the high land above Mecca, p. 59, f n. 2. 
 
 The name of an oasis in Al Hi-jaz, p. 49. ["Tema" 
 appears in a genealogical table in Gen. xxv. 15. In Isaiah 
 
 ^ It followed logically from this disavowment by the Shi-a' 
 of A'li's three predecessors that, on the failure of A'li's visible 
 descendants, the Caliphate, according to Shi-ite dogma, fell 
 into abeyance. In Sun-nite Turkey, the Sultan is regarded 
 
 as ex officio the successor and representative of the Prophet. 
 But in Shi-ite Persia the Shah is looked upon merely as the 
 deputy of the "Hidden Prince" of A'li's race, whose title is 
 Al Mah-di, or The divinely guided. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 393 
 
 TA-jl 
 Tak-rit 
 
 Tal-a't Mil-him 
 
 Tall 
 
 Gush . 
 
 Tallu 'l lahm 
 Tam-hur . 
 Tamr 
 
 Tam-ri .... 
 Ta-ra-fa. 
 
 Ta-r!-ka .... 
 
 Tas 
 
 Tatar, Tatar, Tattar 
 Pp. 74, 89, f.n, I, 266. 
 
 Tat-tu . 
 Tau-kAn . 
 
 Ta-wIl . 
 Tha-bit . 
 
 Thai-yil . 
 
 xxi. 14, we see the inhabitants of the land of Tema bringing 
 water unto him that was thirsty, and meeting the fugitives 
 with their bread.] 
 
 In El I'rak, p. 84 fn. i. 
 
 A town on the west bank of the Tigris, 120 miles above 
 Baghdad, pp. ']i, 75, 281. [From Mosul to Baghdad it is 250 
 miles by river, and Tak-rit is the only permanent settlement 
 which one passes. Ordinary river steamers cannot ascend 
 the Tigris much higher than Tak-rit, without the risk of 
 being stranded, and perhaps having to lie in the desert till 
 the river rise in the following spring.] 
 
 A spot in Sha-mi-ya, p. 6}, fn. 2. [If some traveller 
 between Baghdad and Aleppo, by the Euphrates route, 
 would make a careful sketch of the " Tal-a't of Shekh 
 Milhim," it would help to settle the question of whether 
 the desert term '^tal-dt" denotes an elevated spot, or a corrie, 
 or the tail of detritus which is washed down frovi the corrie^ 
 
 Any natural or artificial eminence, p. 84 fn. i. 
 
 Name of a mound near Baghdad, ibid. 
 
 The Bedouin dish, p. 191 fn. i. 
 
 Name of a strain in Al Kham-sa, Table p. 235 col. iii. 
 
 The fruit of the date-palm tree. Dates, p. 66 fn. i. 
 [As " tamarind," or Indian tamr, we have this word in 
 Europe.] The proper name Tamar, p. 134. 
 
 [Date-coloured.^ Name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table 
 p. 235 col. i. 
 
 A single tamarisk tree. The generic name is Tar-fa. Ref- 
 erences to Ta-ra-fa, one of the poets of THE Mu-'al-LA-KAT, 
 pp. 57,234,255 f.n. I. 
 
 At the root of this word is the idea of beating. The Arabs 
 and Persians use it in several senses, p. 144 f n. 2. 
 
 A drinking-cup ; also the cap, or cup, which protects the 
 head in a suit of armour, p. 104 fn. i. 
 
 A high authority identifies this name with that of the 
 " Ta-ta " Mongols, who in our 5th century inhabited the 
 great sandy desert of Gobi, in Central Asia. It is now 
 generally applied to all the Mongol hordes who followed 
 Jenghis Kaan and his successors. [One of the impressive 
 foreign words occurring in Al Kur-An is " tat-rd," which is 
 used (S. xxiii.) to convey an idea of the spreading abroad of 
 Allah's prophets before Muhammad.] 
 
 The Indian pony, p. 259 et fn. i. 
 
 Name of a strain of the stock of Ku-hai-lAn, Table p. 
 235 col. vi. 
 
 Long, p. 75 fn. I. 
 
 [Established?^ The name of a subdivis. of the Sham-mar, 
 p. 122. 
 
 Agrestis linearis, p. 82 fn. i. 
 
 3 D 
 
394 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Thar-thar 
 
 Thaub 
 
 TiBN WA SHA-I'R 
 
 [At] Ti-ha-ma 
 P. 26. 
 
 Tl-LAL . 
 
 Tippoo Sahib , 
 
 TOBBA' . 
 TU-MAN . 
 
 Tur-k! . 
 
 TuRK-u-JiAN or Turcoman . 
 [Correctly Turk-inan?\ 
 For page references v. In- 
 dex ii. 
 
 TU-WAI-SAN 
 
 A cleft extending from the Sin-jar range to south of 
 Tak-rit, p. 73. In some years, and in some places, Thar-thar 
 may contain, up to May, a current fifty yards broad. It 
 keeps varying between that condition and sheer dryness. 
 Only the Arabs can drink its brackish waters. 
 
 The long Arab shirt, p. 140. 
 
 The horse provender of El I'rak and Arabia, p. 80 f n. 3. 
 
 A very hot region, which, as the name is now generally 
 applied, forms the sea-shore strip of Yemen ; although many 
 of the Arabs follow El Asma'-i in reckoning Mecca, and 
 all the low-lying region round it, not to El Hi-jaz, but to 
 the Ti-ha-ma. 
 
 \Light refreshmg rai7i?[ The name of a prince of Jabal 
 Sham-mar, p. 40. 
 
 Sultan of Mysore (1749- 1799), p. 95. 
 
 The hereditary title of the ancient kings of Yemen, p. 27 
 et f.n. 6. 
 
 A subdivis. of the Sham-mar, p. 122. 
 
 The personal name, or distinguishing epithet, of a gallant 
 prince of the Ibnu 's Su-ud family, who, from 1824 to his 
 death ten years later, successfully headed a revolt of the 
 Arab tribes against the Turkish power in Central Arabia, 
 p. 40. 
 
 The term "Turk," meaning one of the " Osmanli," is more 
 of a political and conventional than of an ethnic definition. 
 Between the nth and 13th Christian centuries hordes of 
 Tatars continually passed westward out of Central Asia, 
 owing to the rise of the Mongol power. Many of these im- 
 migrants settled in Persia, where they received the name 
 of " Turk-man." In our day the Shah's so-called Turkish 
 " Ili-yat," or nomads, are thus designated. But the " Turk- 
 mans " proper consist of all those formidable horse-riding 
 nations of Tekkes, Saryks, and very many others, who 
 possess, under Russia, the steppe-land east of the Caspian. 
 According to Marco Polo, " excellent horses, called Turquans, 
 existed among the Muslim hordes of Turcomania." (Bk. I., 
 ch. ii.) 
 
 [Diminutive from ta-fLS, a peacock.] The name of a strain 
 in the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 u 
 
 U'-BAID 
 
 tl-BAI-Rl-YA 
 
 [Diminutive from dbd?\ (i) The name of a Bedouin 
 nation of El I'rak, pp. 82, 83, 84 fn. i. The horses of the 
 U'baid, p. 280. (2) The name of a strain in Al Kham-sa, 
 Table p. 235 col. iii. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. ii. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 395 
 
 U'-BAI-YAN 
 
 U'-DHAIM 
 
 U'FAIR 
 
 Ug-mu-sa 
 
 U'J-MAN 
 
 U'-LA-MA [pi. of a'-lilli\ 
 
 U'mair . 
 
 Umm 
 
 Ummu 'l ib-il 
 
 U'-NAI-ZA 
 
 UR-Dtr 
 
 Ur-fa 
 
 U'-RCl-jt-YA . 
 
 U'r-wa ibnu 'l Ward 
 
 U'-TAI-BA 
 
 U'-YUN . 
 U'-ZAIR . 
 
 [From dba, the Arab cloak.] Tradition narrates that a 
 desert Arab who was being pursued threw off" his cloak, 
 because it caught the wind, and afterv/ards found it hanging 
 over his mare's tail, so high did she carry it. And the mare 
 of the story is held to have originated the " U'-bai-yan " 
 branch of Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 col. iii. 
 
 \Greatness?\ The name of a tributary of the Tigris, pp. 
 82, 282. 
 
 [ V. art. Ophir, supra?\ The name of a riding-ass of the 
 Prophet's, p. 230. 
 
 [Prob. from KA-MIS, q. v. supra^ A great confederation 
 of the Sba' Aeniza, Table p. 121, 68. 
 
 Bedouin Arabs of the peninsula, who are held to be of 
 Persian (a-ja-mf) origin, pp. 29, 59 f.n. 2, 100. 
 
 Men of knowledge and learning, p. 207 fn. i. 
 
 [Diminutive of U'mr.] The name of a strain in Al Kham- 
 SA, Table p. 235 col. i. ; and of a strain which is shown in 
 col. vi. of the same Table. 
 
 Mother, i.e., originator, cause, origin, or principle of a thing, 
 pp. 34 fn. I, 57 f.n. 5. 
 
 An epithet of Najd, p. 57 f n. 5. 
 
 At p. 56, a girl's name. The town of U'-nai-za, in Najd, 
 pp. 32 f.n. I, 258. [A recent writer says, "The horse-dealers 
 of Onaiza procure young horses from the nomads round the 
 town, even as far as Yemen, and ship these (known in India 
 as Onaiza horses) at Ku-wait for Bombay." ^ This account 
 requires correction. Neither in India nor anywhere else does 
 the term " Aeniza horse " denote a horse which has been 
 bought by an inhabitant of Onaiza. An " Aeniza horse" is 
 one which has been bred by the Aeniza Bedouin in the Arabian 
 desert, irrespectively of locality.] 
 
 The Aryan term , p. 59. 
 
 The well-known town of the Turkish empire, in Al Jazira, 
 on the Daisun, a left-hand tributary of the Euphrates, seventy- 
 five miles west of Diar-bakr, pp. 61, ill fn. 2, 272, 300. 
 
 The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table p. 235 
 col. ii. 
 - The Di-wan of , p. 179 f n. i. 
 
 [Root idea, anger?[ The name of a great Bedouin nation, 
 pp. 10, 59 fn. I, 62. Guarmani is responsible for the state- 
 ment that the horses of the U'tai-ba are esteemed the best of 
 all the horses of the deserts of Najd. 
 
 [Plural of a'in, the primary meaning of which is said to be 
 the ej'e.] With the meaning of springs, p. 105. 
 
 The Biblical name "Ezra" is thus written in Al Kur-AN. 
 P. 100 et f n. I. 
 
 ^ Eacf. Brit., vol. x\'ii. p. 774. 
 
396 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 w 
 
 Wa-dhI-ha . . . . 
 WA-Di 
 
 WA-Dt Da-wA-sir . 
 
 Wa-d1 
 
 Wad-nan . . 
 
 [Al] Wah-hAb 
 
 Wah-hA-b1 . . . . 
 For page references v. Waha- 
 byism in Index ii. 
 
 Wald A'lI 
 WA-lI . 
 
 Washm . 
 
 The ox-like antelope, or " wild cow," of the Arabian wilder- 
 ness, p. 145 fn. I. 
 
 This word, now naturalised in Europe, has a wide range of 
 meaning, from the great strath or valley down to the merest 
 gully, or "fiumara," pp. 37, 52, 65, 68, 73, 75. 
 
 The name of a strip of Najd, p. 32 fn. i. The inhabitants 
 thereof, p. 59 f.n. 2. 
 
 The government tax on camels in El I'rak, p. 84 f n. 2. 
 
 \_PHny of bii-tk.'] The name of a strain in the stock of 
 Ku-HAI-LAN, Table p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 In the theology of the Muslim, an attribute of the Divine, 
 p. 107 fn. I. 
 
 An epithet formed from the second part of the name of 
 A'bdu '1 Wah-hab, of Najd, the resolute enemy of "saint- 
 worship," relics, and pilgrimages. A " Wah-ha-bi " is one 
 who recognises in A'bdu '1 Wah-hab's teaching the latest 
 great exposition of the Prophet Muhammad's testimony. 
 The Government of Turkey, and the Turks themselves, 
 yielding to practical considerations and to natural laxity, 
 have so considerably watered down the peculiar leaven of 
 Islamism, that even the more moderate of the Wahabis who 
 are residents of Ottoman cities find it advisable to screen 
 themselves from notice behind the name of one of the four 
 schools of "cold orthodoxy," usually that called after AH- 
 MAD ibn Han-BAL {c. a.d. Boo) of Baghdad. 
 
 In India, where the circle of sound Arabic scholarship 
 grows narrower every year, the Wahabite element is broadly 
 divisible into three classes. First, we find adventurers from 
 parts like Bussorah who possess just sufficient scholarship 
 to mislead the Indians. Then come Indian townsmen, 
 equally ignorant and fanatical, who from various motives 
 desire to upset the Government under which they have 
 thriven. Lastly, rustic youths are never wanting, whose 
 untutored minds it is easy to inflame with visions of " Holy 
 War" and Paradise, so that they shall attempt impossibilities 
 in the name of Allah. 
 
 The name of a subdivis. of the Aeniza, pp. 63 fn. 1, 68, 
 Table p. 121. 
 
 In the Ottoman empire, the Governor of a province, pp. 
 100 fn. I, 159 fn. 5. [The territorial jurisdiction of a Wa-li 
 is called a " Wi-la-i-at."] 
 
 A province of Najd, p. 32 f.n. i. [Was/mt, meaning tattoo- 
 ing, is a well-known word ; and some say that washm in this 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 197 
 
 Wasm 
 WA-Tl 
 
 sense, and the proper name Washm, mean, in the first instance, 
 spreading, as e.g. verdure does.] 
 
 V. Au-SAM. 
 
 {AcciLstovied to the saddle^ The name of a strain in Al 
 Kham-sa, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 Y 
 
 YA-Btr 
 Ya'-kitb . 
 Ya-ria-ma 
 Ya-mA-n1 . 
 
 YA-MA-Nt . 
 
 Yam-bu' . 
 
 Yar-bu' 
 
 Yath-rib 
 Yaum 
 Ya-zi-d1 . 
 
 A kind of horse, p. 136 et fn. 2. 
 
 "Jacob," p. 106. 
 
 A province of Najd, pp. 32 fn. i, 42, 43. 
 
 A Yemenite, or native of Yemen, p. 97. 
 
 The Arab shoe, p. 97 f n. 4. 
 
 [ The welling up of water.] The port and harbour, con- 
 nected with an inland group of villages (the old " Yan-bu' "), 
 where steamers touch for Medina, pp. 10, 29. From Yam-bu' 
 to Medina, it is about ten days for caravans. 
 
 The jerboa, p. 95. [Up to the year of writing, considerable 
 numbers of these rodents burrowed in the desert round Bagh- 
 dad. Their principal feeding time was after sunrise. Owing 
 to their power of jumping and doubling, they were safe on 
 the open plain from the smartest terriers. A recent overflow 
 of the Tigris has apparently destroyed them.] 
 
 The oasis of , p. loi. 
 
 Day, or a day, p. 127. 
 
 Travellers in the Mosul district hear with surprise of a cer- 
 tain sect of " Devil-worshippers," but such designations should 
 not be taken for more than they are worth. The " Yazidis " 
 of Sin-jar (p. 6) are pagan Kurds of the mountains, among 
 whom, naturally, there are traces of the old Persian religion, 
 and especially of the Persian dualism. Approved books, 
 by men still living, exist in Europe, in which the power 
 of Satan is depicted as rivalling that of the Almighty ; 
 and the same conception comes forth into distinct shape 
 among the Yazidis. The ancient Iranian name "Yazd" 
 represents for them the " good god," while their clear recog- 
 nition of the devil is evidently a shred from the system 
 of Zoroaster. They worship the principle of Good through 
 several of the appearances of Nature, notably the Sun, 
 or light, and water. We write this note in the midst of 
 these primitive people ; and one of them who is with us 
 never fails, on observing the sun rise, to prostrate himself 
 on the spot where the first rays fall. In India we have 
 seen Rajput princes perform the same act of reverence to 
 a common reading-lamp when it chanced to be carried into 
 the room. The Yazidis of Sin-jar consist of about 2000 
 families, distributed in extremely sequestered hamlets. Their 
 
398 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Ya-zI-DI — continued. 
 
 speech is one of the numerous dialects of Kurd!. Other 
 bodies of Yazidis are scattered over Syria. The "A-mir" 
 of the community resides at the village of Ba-adh-ra, a day's 
 ride from Mosul. Near Ba-adh-ra is the " sacred valley " 
 which contains the shrine, or perhaps tomb, of " Shekh 
 A'di." If this be a " temple," it is the only " house of God " 
 which the sect possesses. The ceremonies performed at the 
 annual festival there have been described by Layard, v. his 
 Nineveh and Babylon, ch. iv. We cannot pretend to add 
 anything to so full and graphic an account. The Yazidis 
 are in the habit of informing both the Osmanli officials and 
 European travellers that they possess a revealed book re- 
 sembling Al Kur-an ; but we have not been able to verify 
 this statement.^ Their chief religious treasure is the brass 
 image of a bird, called " Malik Ta-us," ^ which Layard saw 
 and sketched. Four of these objects are in their possession. 
 Layard says that they do not look upon the image "as an 
 idol, but as a symbol or banner." However this may be, 
 " Malik Ta-us " is greatly honoured by them — not the only 
 instance of a bird-figure appearing where those of quadrupeds 
 and reptiles are absent. 
 
 The Yazidis, like the Nepalese Gurkhas, are natural 
 soldiers, mountain-made, and endowed with the hardy habits 
 of a temperate climate. Down to about 50 years ago the 
 Porte enforced its conscription among them, on the grounds 
 that, as they belonged to no recognised non-Muslim sect, 
 they must be of the Muslim. With a fine inconsistency, their 
 children were, however, held to be "Ka-firs," and therefore 
 lawful objects of sale.^ These wrongs were not righted till 
 after the Sin-jar range had witnessed scenes of blood- 
 shed. At the present time (1891) the Yazidis are prosperous 
 and contented ; but their safety from Turkish persecution 
 chiefly depends on England, and on the power and inclina- 
 tion of Her Majesty's Embassy at Constantinople to cover 
 them unofficially with the shield of its protection. 
 
 1 Since the above was written, the traveller Mr Parry, we 
 learn, has brought to England extracts from a sacred book, 
 entitled "The Jal-wa," found by him in the possession 
 of the Yazidis. 
 
 " "Malik" apparently is the ancient title familiar to us as 
 " Moloch" ; while "ta-ils" is an Aryan name for the pea- 
 cock. Layard says that the image of "King Peacock " (on 
 which he " could see no traces of inscription ") is " more like 
 an Indian or Mexican idol than a cock or a peacock." 
 
 ' As determining, in theory at least, the attitude of El 
 Is-LAM towards slavery, two authoritative passages may be 
 quoted. One is the text in S. xlix. of Al Kur-an, meaning, 
 
 Truly believers alone a7'e brothers. 
 And the other is the " Saying, " 
 
 The Muslim shall not be sold ; shall not be bought. 
 
 In considering the spread of Islamism, it is right to assign 
 all due prominence to conquest ; but we must not overlook 
 
 the effects resulting from the brotherhood tenet. The " for- 
 ayers of the morning " appear on the scene only occasionally; 
 the fact that " conversion " generally involves social eleva- 
 tion is an energetic agent which is always operating. 
 There is, however, another side to the account. It follows 
 from the equalisation before Allah of all the Muslim, (l) 
 that there are many inferior kinds of service which no 
 "believer" will e-xact from a "brother believer" ; and (2) 
 that outside of El Islam there is neither law nor safety. In 
 towns like Baghdad, there are plenty of non-Muslim natives 
 to open when required the public and private cesspools. 
 The Arabs of the desert, of course, have no such work to 
 perform ; and yet even they spare no pains to procure 
 African drudges. If ever India should fail to yield races 
 which devote themselves, hereditarily, to conservancy duties, 
 our countrymen there will have the question of imported 
 labour forced upon them in a new and serious aspect. 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 399 
 
 Yemen 
 
 Ytr-Nus 
 Yu-sha' 
 
 YU-SUF 
 
 The " Arabia Felix " of Ptolemy and other ancients. Pp. 
 19, 26-10 passim, 97 et f.n. 4. "Arabia Felix" was a mere 
 mistranslation. The primary idea contained in Yemen is tlie 
 right, or the right hand ; and the meaning of aiispiciousness is 
 secondary and figurative. In Im-ra-u '1 Kais' poem, fa-min 
 is used, as it is still in Arabic, to express an oath, perhaps 
 from the part which the right hand performs in making it.^ 
 In all probability the idea anciently enwrapped in the name 
 Yemen had something to do with the right or the right hand 
 in sun and moon worship, or in the offering of sacrifice and 
 incense. 
 
 "Jonah." Often alluded to in Al Kur-an. Pp. 100 f.n. 
 I, 270. 
 
 "Joshua," p. 100 et fn. i. 
 
 "Joseph," p. 106. 
 
 Zab 
 
 Za-bib 
 Zaf-fa 
 
 Za-gros 
 
 Za-hi 
 Zaid 
 
 [Az] Zai-tI 
 
 The Tigris in its passage through north-eastern El I'rak 
 receives the snows of the Kurd mountains from two con- 
 siderable affluents, respectively called, in books and maps, 
 the Greater and the Lesser Zab or Di-ab (p. 82). The people 
 living on the banks of the rivers bestow, as usual, their own 
 local names on different portions of them. 
 
 Dried grapes or raisins, p. 119 fn. i. 
 
 The procession which accompanies a bride to her hus- 
 band's tent or dwelling, pp. 148, 150. 
 
 The west Persian frontier Highlands are sometimes col- 
 lectively termed the " Zagros mountains" (pp. 79, 282 fn. i) ; 
 but this Greek appellation applies properly only to the range 
 skirting the plains of I'-rak A'-ra-bi, and separated by the 
 Kar-kha river-valley from the more easterly Lur-istan and 
 Khuz-istan systems. 
 
 The name of a strain of the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table 
 p. 23s col. vi. 
 
 [Increase.] Name of the Prophet's favourite amanuensis, 
 V. Note to Al KuR-AN, in List of Works Consulted, p. xiv of 
 prefixes of the volume. 
 
 [From zait, the oil, or essential parts, of the sai-tlxn or 
 olive-tree.] The name of a strain in Al Kham-SA, Table 
 p. 235 col. v. 
 
 ' We have failed to discover in Arabia any traces of the 
 practice described in Gen. xxiv. 9, whereby Abraham's 
 servant put his hand under his master's thigh, and sware to 
 him; but in divers other ways the Arab's right hand per- 
 forms the same function. In his marriage ceremony, in 
 
 which, by the way, tlie presence of the principals is dispensed 
 with, the proxies of the bride and bridegroom come forward 
 at the proper moments, and place the right hand of the one 
 on that of the other, in ratification for their respective prin- 
 cipals of the obligations which are then contracted. 
 
400 
 Zal-la . 
 
 Zam-zam . 
 
 Zl-A-DA . 
 ZiB-NA . 
 ZiPPORAH 
 
 ZO-BA' 
 
 ZU-BAID 
 ZU-BAIR 
 
 ZU-HAIR 
 
 ZULLA 
 
 [For Zu-LA.] 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX AND SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 The name of a strain in the stock of Ku-HAI-LAN, Table 
 p. 235 col. vi. 
 
 The well within the sacred precincts at Mecca ; the deep 
 shaft of which is inclosed in a marble-paved building, p. 1 16. 
 
 \_Excess, as of speed, or beauty.] The name of a strain in 
 Al Kham-sa, Table p. 235 col. i. 
 
 {^Pushing ou(.] The name of a horde of the Aeniza, Table 
 p. 121. 
 
 P. 113 fn. 3. [On the principle that all words which occur 
 in the Biblical literature are to be interpreted from Hebrew, 
 this name means Iz'tt/e bird,'^ lit. zvhistlmg, twittering. In 
 our day "Dha-fi-ra" is a common name among the Arab 
 women ; but the comparative philology of the two names is 
 a complex matter.] 
 
 The name of a confederation of tribes in El I'rak, which 
 claim kindred with the Sham^mar, pp. 122, 158 fn. i. 
 
 A nation of Babylonia, p. 84 f n. i. 
 
 \_Strength, cleverness.'] A modern Arab town which refugees 
 from Najd planted, in the troublous times of Wahabyism, on 
 the site of ancient Bussorah. Most of the inhabitants of Zu- 
 bair are engaged directly or indirectly in the horse trade. 
 Pp. 32, 83, 228, 300. 
 
 [Diminutive of sahr, a flower or blossom.] The name of 
 one of the poets of the Seven Mu-a'l-la-kat. Translations 
 from his poem, pp. 130 fn. 4, 145 fn. i. 
 
 A village near the head of Annesley Bay, on the African 
 coast of the Red Sea, pp. 99 f n. 4, 192 fn. i. 
 
 ■ U's-fur," the common Arabic word for a sparrow, comes from the same root as "Zipporah. 
 
INDEX II. 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Abraham, his setting no wine before the angels who 
 visited him quoted in connection with the abstin- 
 ence of the desert Arabs from intoxicants, 52 ; 
 holds an important place in Arabian story, loi ; 
 common belief among the Arabs that he was one 
 of them, 103 ; the history of, noticed, 108 et seq. ; 
 legends regarding his hospitality, 114^/ f.n. i ; re- 
 ferences to, in Al Kur-An, more copious than in 
 the Hebrew Scriptures, 115; his connection with 
 the Ka'ba of Mecca, ib. et f ns. 2 and 3 ; according 
 to Al Kur-an, Ishmael, and not Isaac, the son 
 whom he was commanded to sacrifice, 115, 116; 
 tradition that the Chaldeans attempted to burn, 
 159 et f.n. 6. 
 
 Abstemiousness, the, of the Arabian horse, 191. 
 
 Abyssinia, horses left in, by the British expedition, 28 
 eti.Xi. I ; large portions of, colonised from S. Arabia, 
 99 et f.ns. 3, 4. 
 
 Abyssinians, the, have lost the art of training the 
 elephant, 28 f.n. 3. 
 
 Acquired characters, latest theories regarding, 242 et 
 f n. 2. 
 
 Adulterated breeds of horses, the, in Sha-mi-ya and 
 Al Ja-zi-ra, 271. 
 
 Africa, points of resemblance between Arabia and, 
 99 f n. 4. 
 
 African elephant, the, carried into Yemen, 28. 
 
 Ages of horses, the, compared with ages of men, 1S5. 
 
 Agriculture in El I'rak, 79, So et f.n. 3, 85. 
 
 " Akbar," the Arab race-horse (with illustration), 257 
 f.n. I. 
 
 Aleppo, carrying of Arabia as far north as, by a 
 fourteenth - century geographer, 20 ; the Darley 
 Arabian bought by a resident of, 165 et f n. 2 ; 
 Mr Skene consul at, 212 ; Mr Henderson consul at, 
 249 ; as a starting-point for the horse-purchaser, 291. 
 
 Amulets, use of, among the desert Arabs, 136 et f.n. i. 
 
 Angora flocks of Sin-jar, the, 133 et f n. 4. 
 
 Animals, comparative degrees of intelligence in the 
 different kinds of domesticated, 195 f.n. 2. 
 
 Antelope, the, of Arabia, 8, 74, 145 et fn. i, 152. 
 
 Arab horses, collections of, made by Muhammad ib7iu 
 'r Ra-shid of Ja-bal Sham-mar, 45 ; by the King of 
 Wiirtemberg, 219; by A'b-bis Pisha, Viceroy of 
 Egypt, ib. et f.n. 3 ; by Mr W. S. Blunt, 220 ; by 
 A-mir Fai-sal of Najd, 250. 
 
 Arabia, the intensity of its climate, and the effects 
 thereof, 6 ; characteristics of the surface of, 8, 9 ; 
 its capabilities as a nursery of horses, 8 et seq. ; 
 Burckhardt quoted on this point, 9 ; Lane's sugges- 
 tion regarding etymology of the name, 19 f.n. 2 ; 
 delimitation of, 19 et seq.; maps of, 22 et fns. i 
 and 2 ; sketch of peninsular, 25-64 ; the treatment of 
 travellers in, 33 et f.n. 2 ; extract from old Ara- 
 bian poet illustrative of climate of, 49 ; list of the 
 nomadic races of Arabia proper, 59 f n. 2 ; from 
 very early times, occupied by two more or less dis- 
 tinct peoples, 97 ; the central portion of, was but 
 slightly affected by the historical vicissitudes of the 
 empire of Yemen, ib. ; the prevailing classification 
 of the existing nations of, 98, 99; article in Ency. 
 Brit, on, 99 fn. 2, 210-212; points of resemblance 
 between, and Africa, 99 f n. 4 ; and between the 
 Arabs and numerous African peoples, ib. ; preva- 
 lence anciently of Jewish settlements and kingdoms 
 within, 100, loi ; hints to travellers in, 149 <?/ fn. i, 
 292-295. 
 
 Arabian horse, the. See Horse, the Arabian. 
 
 Arabic and other foreign words, glossarial index and 
 supplement to all references to, used in this work, 
 325-400. 
 
 Arabic language, method of transcribing Arabic words 
 used throughout this work, ix, x of prefixes of 
 volume ; its love of personification illustrated, 34 
 f.n. I ; antiquity of, 104, 105 ; Lane's view on this 
 point, 105 f.n. I ; currency among the desert Arabs 
 of many words unknown to grammarians, ib. ; 
 place - names and names of persons among the 
 
 3 E 
 
402 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Arabs considered, 105-10S ; hints on the study of, 
 292 iV f.n. I ; words imitative of sounds, 221 f.n. i, 
 295 ; words lent to, and words borrowed by, Index 
 i-, 345-346 f.n. 
 Arabs, the, broadly divisible into the Bedouin or 
 nomadic and the settled Arabs, 15 ; from earliest 
 ages have had an instinct for emigration, 20 ; 
 their skill and enterprise as navigators, 21 et f.n. 
 I ; cannot on the whole claim to rank as scien- 
 tific breeders of animals, 22 ; their origin, 92 et 
 seq. ; their claim to " purity " of blood, 93 et seq. ; 
 extreme importance attached to this view by, 94 ; 
 inter-resemblance of, 95; traces of "breeding" 
 in their pose and figure, ib. ; their blood seems 
 to possess a special virtue, ib. ; the northern are 
 mainly nomads, 100; but masses of the southern 
 also display the wandering habit, ib. ; the connec- 
 tion, anciently, between the Jews and, ib., loi ; 
 and between their respective religions, loi ; their 
 physical aspect, 103, 104 ; their speech, 104-108 ; 
 the epithets "Yemenite" and " Ishmaelite," con- 
 sidered from the racial view-point, \\Z et seq. ; horse- 
 racing not practised among, 131 et f.n. 3, 248 f.n. i ; 
 illiterate condition of, 132, 247 ; the condition of 
 women among, 134 et^.w. i ; the sport of hawking 
 among, 152 et f.n. 2; their love for their horses, 
 157-166; how the influence of Al Kur-an tends to 
 develop this sentiment, 158 et seq. ; recognise the 
 necessity of shoeing their horses, 179; management 
 of their horses, 196 ; how they name their horses, 
 
 237- 
 
 Arabs, the Bedouin. See Bedouin Arabs. 
 
 Arabs, the settled, of El I'rak, 83, 84 et f.n. i, 85 ; 
 horse-breeding among, 146-154; their saddle and 
 stirrup, 147, 148 ; the place of the horse among, 
 166. 
 
 Arabs, the town- dwelling, why despised by the 
 Bedouin, 133, 134; as horse-breeders, 146 et seq. ; 
 their fantasia described, 150; influence of Al Kur- 
 an upon, 160, 161 ; how they were affected by the 
 Puritanical rigour of the Wahabite system, 162-164; 
 admire large horses, 197 ; remarks on the theory 
 that the stallion, more than the mare, transmits the 
 qualities of the breed, 230. 
 
 Argamak horse, the, 274 et f.n. i. 
 
 Armour and weapons of Arabia, 104 f.n. i. 
 
 Arrack, the sale of, permitted by the Ottoman Govern- 
 ment, 119; origin of the word, ib. f.n. I. 
 
 Aryan and Semitic languages, error of deriving one 
 from the other. Index i., 345-346 f.n. 
 
 " A-sil," the winner of certain races for Arab horses at 
 Newmarket and Sandown, 249. 
 
 Ass, the domestic, of Arabia, 22 ; the white, of Al 
 Ha-sa, 31 ; merits of the, variously estimated in the 
 East, 159; the wild, 8, 74, 75. 
 
 Australasia, an Australian writer quoted on the im- 
 portance of flowing water to horse-breeders in, 9 f.n. 
 I ; the horses of, will perform long journeys on a 
 grass diet, 11 ; maritime districts of, found unsuit- 
 able for horse-breeding, 26 ; Arabian stallions in, 
 214; the blood-horse of, quite modern, ib. f.n. i; 
 large sums paid for race-horses in, 216 f.ns. i, 2. 
 
 Australian horses, "Kingcraft," 186; "Jorrocks," ib. 
 f.n. I ; the origin of their habit of "buck-jumping," 
 
 191 ; their uncertain temper, 198 ; an Australian 
 colt by "Chester," 195, 241, 242, 273; occasionally 
 mistaken for Arabians, 303. 
 
 Baghdad, 13 ; immunity of, from rabies and hydro- 
 phobia, 33 f.n. 2 ; the learned men of, 98 ; the Jews 
 of, 100; horse-breeding in and around, 127 ; as 
 a horse-mart, 211, 296 ; the difficulty of exercising 
 race-horses in, 275 ; horses bred in, have no true 
 pedigrees, 279. 
 
 Bathing, method of, practised by the Kurdish women 
 of Sin-jar, 5. 
 
 Beatson, the late Gen. W. F., and " Beatson's Horse," 
 alluded to, 188. 
 
 Bedouin Arabs, the, etymology and definition of the 
 name, 15 et seq.\ are of composite origin, 16; 
 delight in trading enterprises, ib., 17 ; a strict 
 demarcation of their limits impossible, 18 ; their 
 love of Najd, 32, 38 ; have sound reasons for their 
 exclusiveness, 33 ; how they contend against the 
 want of water, 48 et seq. ; the four seasons recog- 
 nised by, 50 f.n. 2 ; the question of their abstinence 
 from wine considered, 52 et seq., 119 ; exoduses of, 
 out of Najd, 62-64 ; hints afforded as to the history 
 of, by their proper names, 105 et seq. ; qualities 
 personified in their names, 107 f.n. 3 ; their hospi- 
 tality, 114 ; how they have preserved their indepen- 
 dence, 119 ; as horse-breeders, 121-145 j table of the 
 divisions of the Ae-ni-za nation of, 121 ; the divi- 
 sions of the Sham-mar nation, 122 et f.n. 5 ; different 
 septs of, have different standards of horse-breeding, 
 123 et seq. ; their method of conducting warfare and 
 foray, 126-128 ; their condition as regards religion, 
 128, 129, 160; Dr Wallin quoted on this point, 129 
 f.n. I ; their fatalism, nature of, 129, 130 eti.ns. 2-4; 
 their very ancient custom of tying a dead man's 
 mare or camel beside his grave, 130; despise book- 
 learning, 132, 133; desert costume, 134; the poeti- 
 cal temperament of, 135 et f.n. 4 ; the chief feature 
 of their practice of horse - breeding is faith in 
 blood, 137, 231, 267 ; their fanaticism on this point 
 renders them too unmindful oi form, 138; their 
 horsemanship, 138-140; their riding-halter, 140, 
 141; saddle, 141, 144; spur, 142; a poet's description 
 of their horses and horsemanship, 143; their natural 
 gravity, 163 ; but slightly affected by Wahabyism, 
 ib. ; their love of tobacco, 164 et f.n. 2 ; how the 
 possession of a mare raises the nomad's social posi- 
 tion, 165 ; their acuteness, 184; their consideration 
 for their horses, 189, 221 ; their manner of feasting, 
 191 et f.n. 2 ; are generally short-lived, 193 ; their 
 reluctance to part with a mare, 215 ^/jt'^. ; instances 
 of their nevertheless selling their best mares to 
 strangers, 217, 218 ; in pedigrees they give the mare 
 pre-eminence, 230 et seq. ; how they name their 
 horses, 237 ; how they preserve the purity of the 
 strains, 241, 242, 248 ; in their own deserts, will 
 truly declare all they know of a horse's pedigree, 
 247, 248 ; their horse knowledge a national posses- 
 sion, 254; their superstitions regarding colour and 
 markings, 264 ; their trade with pedlars, 294 f.n. 2. 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 403 
 
 Bedouin supper, description of a, 191. 
 
 Bedouin women, tlieir duties and tlieir dress, 127 et 
 f.n. 2; the measure of liberty allowed to, 134; the 
 tending of the mares by, 189. 
 
 Bengal Cup, running of the Arab horses " Crab " and 
 " Oranmore" in the, 207, 208. 
 
 Bible narratives, recurrence of very many of the, in 
 Al Kur-an, ioi. 
 
 Bible, The, references to, 27 et f.n. 3, 41, 43 f.n. i, 
 44 et f.n. I, 49 f.n. 4, 52 et f.ns. 4 and 5, 64 et f.n. 2, 
 65 et f.ns. I and 2, 66 f.n. i, 70, 74 et f.n. i, 78 et f.n. 
 I, So f.n. 3, 93 f.n. 2, 94 f.n. I, 98 f.n. 3, 104 f.n. 3, 
 109, no f.n. I, III ^/ f.n. 2, 112, 113 f.ns. 3 and 4, 
 lis f.n. 4, 117, 130 f.ns. 2 and 5, 134, 157, 158 «/ f.n. 
 I, 159 et f.ns. I, 2, 3, and 6, 178 f.n. 2, 226 f.n. 4, 227 
 et f.ns. I and 3, 332 et f.n. 2, 238 f.n. 2, 265 et f.n. 2, 
 378 et f.n. I, 399 et f.n. 2. 
 
 "Bishopping," 303 f.n. i. 
 
 Bishops, in early times in England, rode mares, 232 
 f.n. 2. 
 
 Bits and bitting, 141 f.n. i, 150, 151 (with illustra- 
 tions) ; the Mameluke bit, 150 et f.n. i. 
 
 Blackwood's l\Iagazi7te, reference to observations of 
 an early English traveller in Mid-Lothian in, 6 f.n. 
 3 ; quotation from an article in, on the Turku-mans 
 and their horses, 272. 
 
 Blaine, Delaberre, quoted regarding longevity in 
 horses, 184 f.n. 2. 
 
 " Blitz," the Arab race-horse, 308. 
 
 Blood-horse, meajiing of term, 246 f.n. 4. 
 
 Blood, purity of, faith of the Bedouin Arabs in, 137, 
 231 ; the winning of races not an infallible proof 
 of, 248 et f.n. I ; the tendency of the Arab horse- 
 dealers, when they engage in racing in India, to 
 persevere with worthless animals which are of fancy 
 strains of blood, 307. 
 
 Blunt, Lady Anne, 8, 39, 149 f.n. i ; her Pilgrimage 
 to Najd, 37 ; her description of the Nu-fudh, 38 ; 
 her remarks on the scarcity of horses in Najd con- 
 sidered, 58 ; her estimate of the numbers of the 
 Ae-ni-za and the Sham-mar, 63 et f.n. i ; on the 
 effect of the spring rains in Sha-mi-ya, 68 ; on Der 
 as a horse-market, 68, 69 ; her visit to Shekh Fa-ris, 
 72 f.n. I ; on the religion of the Bedouin, 129. 
 
 Blunt, Mr W. S., favours the theory that Arabia was 
 the primeval home of the horse, 7, 8 ; praise of 
 the Arabian horse by, at Newmarket, 169; on the 
 Arabian as a race-horse, 206, 207 ; remarks on his 
 description of desert horse-breeding, 207 f.n. i ; on 
 the purchase of Arabian mares, 218 ; his experi- 
 ments in the naturalisation of Arabians in England, 
 220 ; quotation from a pedigree table in Bedouin 
 Ti-ibes of t/ie Euphrates, 246; chose his mares and 
 horses from the Bedouin tribes in Sha-mi-ya, 270. 
 
 Bombay, the best and greatest market in the world 
 for Arabian horses, 299 et f.n. i ; the Arab horse- 
 mart of, described (illustration), 300-302 ; purchas- 
 ing Arabian horses in, 302-314; its climate, 315. 
 
 " Bombproof," the Indian stud-bred horse, record of, 
 187 f.n. 2. 
 
 Bones of the horse, the, anatomical and horseman's 
 names for, contrasted, 144 f.n. 3. 
 
 Bower, Colonel, owner of "Child of the Islands," 
 quoted, 198, 306. 
 
 Breeders of animals, the Arabs cannot claim title of 
 scientific, 22. 
 
 Bridle, the, of the Bedouin Arabs (with illustration), 
 140, 141. 
 
 British Association, a suggestion to the, 105. 
 
 British Isles, the climate of, favours the Arabian 
 horse, 316. 
 
 " Bucephalas," reference to, p. vi of prefixes of volume 
 et f.n. 3. 
 
 Buck-jumping, origin of the habit of, in Australian 
 horses, 191. 
 
 Budge, Dr E. A. W., British Museum, his visit to 
 Sin-Jar, 6 f.n. 3. 
 
 Buffon cited on the point of wild horses in Arabia, 7. 
 
 Burckhardt, references to, 5 f.n. i, 36, 29, 291, 
 312 f.n. I ; on the horse-yield of Arabia, 9; the 
 extent of his travels in Arabia, 10 ; on the climate 
 of Yemen, 26, 27 ; on the horses of Yemen, 26, 27, 
 29 ; and of Al Hi-jaz, 29 ; on the numbers of the 
 Ae-ni-za, 63 f.n. i ; on the religion of the Bedouin, 
 12S ; on the traders who enter the desert, 294 f.n. 2. 
 
 Burton, the late Sir R., cited, 115, 160 f.n. 3 ; transla- 
 tion of S. Al FA-ti-ha by, 135 f.n. 3 ; his costume 
 on pilgrimage to Mecca, 149 f.n. i. 
 
 Bussorah, its fertility as a date-garden, 74 ; a good 
 starting-point for the horse-purchaser, 292 ; facili- 
 ties for transport of Arab horses from, to India, 315. 
 
 Buyer of horses, qualifications of a successful, 35 et 
 f.n. 2, 289, 290. 
 
 Buying horses. See under Horse, the Arabian. 
 
 "Byerly Turk," the, 138 f.n. i, 165, 206. 
 
 Cairo, sale of A'b-bas Pasha's stud of Arabians at, 
 219 f.n. 3 ; may become a considerable market for 
 Arabians, 299. 
 
 Camel, the, Huf-huf in Al Ha-sa as a market for, 31 ; 
 in Oman, 33; Arab life impossible without, 55; a 
 high authority cited on the primeval home of, ib. 
 f.n. I ; the Arab's love for, 56, 57, 394 ; its money 
 value in Najd, 57 ; its part in desert warfare, 60, 
 61 ; only true beast of travel in the desert, 76; its 
 uses in early times, 159; limited intelligence of, 
 195 f.n. 3 ; its money value in Sha-mi-ya, 270 ; the 
 purchasing power of, varies, ib. f.n. i ; Damascus a 
 good market for, 293, 294. 
 
 Camel-brands, the, used by the Arabs (with illustra- 
 tion), 67 et f.n. 3. See also Au-sam, in Index i. 
 
 Campbell, the late Dr, of Mysore, 306. 
 
 Canine madness unknown in Baghdad, 33 f.n. 2 ; pre- 
 valence of, in India, ib. 
 
 Cape, the, purchasing of horses at, 35 f.n. 2. 
 
 " Captain White " (the name of a horse), sagacity of, 
 194. 
 
 Castration of horses, remarks on the, 279 et seq. 
 
 Cavalry, the uses of, indicated by Al Kur-an, 158; 
 Egypt as a school for, 239. 
 
 Centaur, myth of the, used as an illustration, 238(7^ f.n. i. 
 
 Chaldeans, tradition regarding attempted burning of 
 Abraham by the, 1 59 et f.n. 6. 
 
 Character of the Arabian horse. See under Horse, 
 the Arabian. 
 
404 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Chargers, the Prophet Muhammad's, 230 f.n. 2. 
 
 Chess among the Arabs, 54 f.n. 2. 
 
 " Chest-founder " v. " foot-founder," the question of, 
 181 ei seq. 
 
 Chestnut colour, in horses, 264, 265 ; English racing- 
 stock practically become bay and, 267. 
 
 Cheyne, the Rev. Dr, quoted on Jewish circumcision, 
 
 113- 
 
 " Child of the Islands," the Arabian race-horse, 198 
 et f n. 2, 306. 
 
 Chivalry, the influence of, on horse-breeding in Eng- 
 land, 232. 
 
 Circumcision, practice of, among the early Arabs, 
 112; prevalence of among many savage and some 
 civilised peoples, ib. f.n. 2 ; reference to, by Rev. 
 Dr Cheyne, 113 et fn. 2; other authorities cited 
 with regard to its practice among the Arabs, ib. 
 f.n. 3 ; not mentioned in Al Kur-an, ib. f n. 3. 
 
 Cities, the perished, of the Euphrates valley, 65, 66. 
 
 " Claverhouse," author's Arabian horse, history and 
 career of (with full-page illustration), 1S1-184 ; 
 his lameness considered in reference to " chest- 
 founder" and "foot-founder," 182-184. 
 
 Climate, as an element of the general " environment," 
 regarded throughout these pages as a most impor- 
 tant factor, 1-6, 89; intensity and effect of that of 
 Arabia, 6 ; extract from old Arabian poet illustra- 
 tive of, 49 ; of British Islands, suitability of, to the 
 Arabian horse, 316. 
 
 Coach-horses in olden times spoken to from the 
 coach-box, 196 fn. i. 
 
 Coffee, comparatively modern introduction of, into 
 Arabia, no; traditions regarding the discovery of 
 the plant by the Arabs, ib. f n. 2 ; derivation of 
 the name, ib. ; royal proclamation against, on its 
 introduction into England, ib. 
 
 Collins, Vet.-Surgeon, quoted, 175, 279. 
 
 Colour of the " typical " Arabian horse, question of 
 the, considered, 260 et seq. ; colour as an indication 
 of character, ib.\ and as an indication of breed, or 
 breeding, 265-267. 
 
 Colours, the, of the Arabian horse. Table of, 262, 263. 
 
 Constitution of the Arabian horse. See under Horse, 
 the Arabian. 
 
 Consuls, the variable influence of in Asiatic Turkey 
 and Arabia, 297, 298. 
 
 " Copenhagen," the Arab race-horse, 208, 307. 
 
 Coughs in the Arabian horse, 174. 
 
 Courage, the, of the Arabian horse, 193 et seq. 
 
 Cox, Mr, of Sydney, and his horse "Yattendon," 216 
 f.n. I. 
 
 "Crab," the Arab race-horse, his race with "Oran- 
 more," 207, 208. 
 
 Crooked fore-legs, prevalence of, in Arab horses (with 
 illustration), 200. 
 
 Crossing the Arabian with other breeds. See under 
 Horse, the Arabian. 
 
 Cuneiform Tablets, the, of Tell el Amarna, 105 fn. i. 
 
 Cup-horses, or platers, the buying of, 309 et seq. 
 
 Curb an unsoundness seldom seen in Arab horses, 
 178. 
 
 Curr, Mr, on Australian horse-pastures, 9 f n. i ; 
 extract from his Pure Saddle-Hojses, 170-72 ; his 
 account of " Jorrocks," 186 f n. i. 
 
 Damascus, recommended by Burckhardt as a market 
 for Arabians, 64, 291 ; the Arab's name for, 65 ; 
 horse-buying in the deserts round, 271, 272 ; a start- 
 ing-point for the horse-purchaser, 291 ; a good 
 market for camels, 293, 294. 
 
 Dandle Dinmont terrier, history of the, used to illus- 
 trate difficulty of ascertaining origin of breeds of 
 animals, 240; this breed said to trace back to a 
 mother., ib. f n. 6 ; the colours of, more or less fixed, 
 266. 
 
 " Darley Arabian," the, came from the Ae-ni-za, 63 ; 
 from whom bought, in Queen Anne's reign, by Mr 
 Darley of Aleppo, 165 et f n. 2, 269, 291 ; a certain 
 account of him shown to be unsupported, 213 f n. i ; 
 probably a model in respect of make and sound- 
 ness, 219; locality in which foaled unknown, 269. 
 
 Darwin cited, 118 fn. i, 137, 241, 242, 245, 266 et 
 f n. 2. 
 
 Date, value of the, as food for men and horses, 12 ct 
 fn. I. 
 
 Date-groves of Bussorah, the, 74 ; of El I'rak, 79. 
 
 Daumas, Gen., work by, on the Arabs in Africa, re- 
 ferred to, 161. 
 
 Day, Mr, his Race-horse in Training c^o\.^A, lyj. 
 
 Defects of the Arabian horse. See under Horse, the 
 Arabian. 
 
 " Dervish," the Arabian horse. See Index i. 
 
 Desert, etymology and definition of [he word, 18, 19. 
 
 Desert horsemanship, characteristic features of, 138- 
 140; an Arabian poet's description of, 143 et fns. 
 2-7, 144 et f n. I. 
 
 Desert horses, the trade in, 211 ; the desert is continu- 
 ally being stripped of its blood-horses, 213. 
 
 Desert travelling, importance of the camel in, 76. 
 
 Desert warfare, 61, 108 fn. 3, 124, 126-128; the place 
 of the women in, 127. 
 
 Dick, Professor, of Edinburgh, able to detect lame- 
 ness in a horse by ear alone, 176 fn. i. 
 
 Diseases, special, of the Arabian. See Horse, Ara- 
 bian, Constittition of, also Treatment of, when ex- 
 ported. 
 
 Dods, Prof Marcus, quotation from Muhammad, 
 Buddha, and Christ by, as to sense in which Mu- 
 hammad was a Prophet, 4 fn. i. 
 
 Dog, the, how treated by the Arabs, ii6 fn. 2. 
 
 Doughty, Mr, his experiences in Najd, 33 f n. 2 ; his 
 estimate of the population of Ja-bal Sham-mar, 39 
 f n. I ; his account of Prince Ban-dar's accession to 
 Chiefship of Ja-bal Sham-mar, 40 f n. i ; on the ad- 
 ministration of justice by Amir Muhammad, in the 
 same province, 43 et f n. 3 ; his description of the 
 same Amir's stud, 45 ; his experience of the scarcity 
 of water in Western Arabia, 51 ; on the numbers of 
 the U'tai-ba Bedouin, 59 et f n. 2 ; the subdivisions of 
 the Sham-mar nation according to, 122. 
 
 Dress, the, of the Arabs, 108 et f.n. 2, 127 f n. 2. 
 
 Drinking-bouts of the ancient Arabs, legendary lore 
 regarding, 53 f n. i. 
 
 Dromedary. See Camel. 
 
 Durability, the, of the Arabian horse, more or less a 
 product of high breeding, 185 ; qualified by method 
 of rearing, i86£'/fn. i. 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 405 
 
 Ears of Arab horses; frequent presence of marks on, 
 312 ; spread of, methods of obviating practised by 
 the Bedouin and other breeders, ib. 
 East India Company, quality of horses bred by the, 187. 
 " Eclipse," Lawrence's explanation, in The Horse, of 
 his vast powers, 186 f n. i ; size of his heart, when 
 weighed after death, referred to, 243 f n. 3 ; possible 
 inaccuracy of his pedigree, 247 f n. i ; his confor- 
 mation, as shown in engraving in Sidney's Book of 
 the Horse, recommended as a model to buyers of 
 Arabians for racing, 257 f n. i ; marking in de- 
 scendants of, 266; his character as a colt, 275. 
 Egypt, monumental and traditional evidence as to 
 the breeding of horses in ancient, 227 et f n. 2 ; in 
 A'li's time, a school for cavalry, 239 ; as a market 
 for Arabian horses, 299. 
 Elephant, the, imported into Yemen from Africa, 28 ; 
 the art of training, lost by the Abyssinians, ib. f n. 3 ; 
 the Indian, instances of its intelligence, 195 fn. 2. 
 Elliot, Major, owner of the Arab race-horses "Euclid" 
 
 and " Lanercost," 309. 
 Emigration, instinct of the Arabs for, 20. 
 Encyclopcedia Brita7inica, references to, 6 f.n. i, 26 f.n. 
 3, 39 f.n. I, 54 et f.n. 3, 99 f ns. 2 and 3, 113 et f ns. 
 2 and 3, 115 f.n. 4, 210, 239 et fn. 4, 277 et f.n. 3, 
 2S2 f n. 2. 
 English Stud-book, the, its beginning and history, 
 
 246 ; probable inaccuracies in, 247 et f n. i. 
 Esau bin Curta.s, his account of the history of the 
 Arabian breed, 228 ; colt afterwards famous as " Re- 
 . venge" sold by him, 270; circumstances in which 
 
 " Blitz" was bought and sold by him, 308. 
 Etymologies, Eastern grammarians not generally 
 qualified to consider, 98; "popular etymologies" 
 illustrated, prefatory note to Index i., 324 et fn. 
 " Euclid," the Arab race-horse (with full-page illustra- 
 tion), 309. 
 "Euphrates," the Arab race-horse, 271. 
 Euphrates, the river, mixed population in the valley 
 of, 16; deserts west the, 65-69 ; numerous perished 
 cities near, 65 ; husbandry in the valley of, 66 ; its 
 importance to horse-breeders, ib. ; dominated by 
 the nomads, 67 ; deserts east the, 70-77 ; water- 
 wheels on, 81 fn. 2 ; the horses of the settled Arabs 
 on, are of adulterated blood, 271. 
 European clothes, difficulty of keeping in proper order, 
 or of replacing, when travelling in the East, 149 
 fn. I. 
 
 Farriery, no true Arab will handle farrier's tools, 179. 
 Fatalism, true character of, in El Is-lam, 130. 
 Fauna of Arabia, grace and beauty of the, 95. 
 Feasting, the Bedouin's manner of, 191 et f n. 2. 
 Feeding-bags, horses', 318 f n. i. 
 Firing horses, the Arab practice in respect of, 184, 185, 
 
 311,312- 
 Fish as food of horses, 12. 
 
 "Fisherman," the English race-horse, his record, 186. 
 Fitzwygram, Lieut.-Col., the horse-shoe recommended 
 
 by, 201. 
 
 Flags, use of, in ancient Arabia, as signs for wine- 
 sellers' booths, 106 f n. 2. 
 
 Flight to Medina, Muhammad's, epoch-making nature 
 of, 52 f n. 7. 
 
 Foot, the, of the Arabian horse, significant Arabic 
 name of, 11 ; different shapes of, produced by dif- 
 ferent soils, 178 ; circumstances affecting it, ib. ; its 
 natural soundness shown by its power of resisting 
 those circumstances, 179 ; is cut to fit the shoe, ib. ; 
 demands most careful scrutiny from the intending 
 purchaser, 181 et f n. i. 
 
 "Foot-founder" v. "chest-founder," the question of, 
 lii et seq. 
 
 Forsyth, Sir Douglas, the late, quoted on question of 
 wild horses, 89 fn. i. 
 
 " Fort Adjutant's mark," meaning of the, in Arabian 
 horses, 313. 
 
 Fortitude as a feature of character in the Arabian 
 horse, 192, 193. 
 
 Gabriel, the Angel, his place in Muslim story, 4 
 fn. 2. 
 
 Games, prohibition of certain, by the Prophet Mu- 
 hammad, 54 f n. 2. 
 
 Geldings in freshly landed batches of Arabian horses, 
 
 311- 
 
 "Godolphin," the, 138 fn. i, 165. 
 
 Goodwood Cup, the, cases connected with, cited to 
 demonstrate the futility of entering the best Arabian 
 racers for races in England, 208. 
 
 Grass, importance of, as food for horses, 9, 11. 
 
 Grasses of El I'rak, 82 et f ns. i, 2. 
 
 Greyhound, the Arab, high " quality" of, 96. 
 
 " Greyleg," the Arab race-horse, description of (with 
 full-page illustration), 254-256. 
 
 Grooming horses. Eastern and Western methods of, 
 318 ^/ fns. 2, 3, 320. 
 
 Guarmani, the Italian traveller and horse-buyer, 52, 
 59 ; his experiences in Najd, 57 ; supports the 
 theory that the stallion, more than the mare, trans- 
 mits the qualities of the breed, 230, 231. 
 
 " Gulf Arabs," remarks on this descriptive term, as 
 
 H 
 
 Hagar and Ishmael, the "Ishmaelite" Arabs claim 
 to be descendants of, 99, 100 ; the banishment of, 
 by Abraham, not mentioned in Al Kur-an, 115 ; 
 Professor Wellhausen's observations on the Bible 
 narrative of, ib. f n. 4 ; place of Hagar's settlement 
 according to the Muslim commentators, 116. 
 
 Hair of the head, the exuberance of, among un- 
 civilised peoples, 6 f n. i ; the decadence of, follows 
 the advance of civilisation, ib. ; the Hindu's hair 
 invariably black, 266 fn. i. 
 
 Hallen, Vet. Lieut.-Col., and the "turned-up" horse- 
 shoe, 202. 
 
 Hampton Court, sale of Arabian horses at, on death of 
 King William IV., 252 et f n. i. 
 
 Hand-rubbing of horses, value of, 320 fn. i. 
 
406 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Harems, Georgian and Circassian girls in Turl;ish, 
 47 f.n. 2. 
 
 Hasan bin Badr, the Arab horse-dealer, 309. 
 
 Hawking among the Arabs, 152 ct f.n. 2. 
 
 Heart, a large, said to be essential to a race-horse, 
 243 ; example of, as regards " Eclipse," ib. f.n. 3. 
 
 Heber, Bishop, and his Arab riding-horse, 167. 
 
 Hebron, a rival to Damascus in antiquity, 109 f.n. 3. 
 
 Henderson, Mr, late Consul at Aleppo, letter from, to 
 the Author quoted, 249. 
 
 "Hermit," the Arab race-horse, 181 f.n. i ; cited as 
 an e.xample of the indomitable qualities of the 
 Arabian race-horse, 192 ; his career in India, and 
 his great race with " Greyleg" (with full-page illus- 
 tration), 256. 
 
 "Hermit," Mr C. Davis's reputed half-bred Arab 
 hunter, 209 f.n. i. 
 
 Hobbling, marks caused by, in El I'rak or in Arabia, 
 mistaken, in India, for proofs of superiority, 313. 
 
 " Honeysuckle," the Arab race-horse, his career, 307. 
 
 Hoof of the Arabian horse. See Foot. 
 
 Hoopoe, the, fable of Solomon and, 12 rf f.n. 3. 
 
 Horace, his advice to horse-buyers, 303 ; an unfortu- 
 nate application of the same, ib. 
 
 Home's, Capt., distance ride, on his Arab horse 
 "Jumping Jimmy," 193. 
 
 Horse, the, copiousness of existing literature on 
 subject of, V, vi et f.n. i of prefixes of volume ; 
 traditions regarding the origin of, 4; his power 
 of adapting himself to new foods, 10 et seq. ; his 
 herbivorous habit, 10, 11 ; when first imported 
 into Yemen ? 27, 28 ; the horseman makes the, 
 88-91; lost breeds of, go, 91; anatomical names 
 for the bones of, compared with those used by 
 horsemen, 144 f.n. 3 ; in Eastern countries the 
 commonest varieties of, are generally much better 
 to go than to look at, 153, 154; the breeding and 
 importing of, forbidden to the Israelites, 157 et f.n. 
 I ; the standard of intelligence possessed by, con- 
 sidered, 195 f.n. 2 ; examples of the large sums paid 
 for, 216 f.ns. I and 2, 219 f.n. 3; varieties of, 225 ; 
 adulterated breeds of, towards the Tigris and 
 Euphrates, 271. 
 
 Horse, the Arabian, where bred? 19-22, 235-244 
 passim J what is an Arabian horse ? 22 et seg. ; the 
 degree in which the breed shows diversity of form 
 and size, 22, 23, 62 f.n. i ; in Yemen, 26, 27 ; in 
 Al Hi-jaz, 28, 29 ; in Al Ha-sa, 29-31 ; in Oman, 
 32 ; the numbers and use of, in Najd, 57-61 ; Mr 
 Palgrave's and Lady A. Blunt's observations on 
 this point, 57-59 ; large numbers of, bred in El 
 I'rak, 78; essentially a war-horse, 126; written 
 pedigrees of, 136; is a true saddle-horse, 153, 
 168 ; honoured wherever the Arab Prophet's 
 teachings are received, 158 et seq.; foreign esti- 
 mates of his qualities, 16^-172 ; his tractability, 
 168 ; his services in India, Afghanistan, and other 
 countries, ib. et f.n. i ; conflicting pronouncements 
 upon, 169 ^/ seq. ; Mr Sidney's Book of the Horse 
 quoted, 170 ; Mr Curr's Pure Saddle - Horses 
 quoted, ib. et seq. ; compared with other varieties 
 as regards constitution and character, 173-196; the 
 breed artificial, 173 ; defects of, 197-204; the theory 
 that the cream of the breed is inaccessible to 
 
 foreigners discussed, 210 et seq.; origin of, 225-244; 
 galloping with straight fore-legs, 243 et i.vi. 1 ; in- 
 and-in breeding of, 243, 244 ; the typical, 245-266 ; 
 in Sha-mi-ya and Al Ja-zi-ra, 269-276 ; in El I'rak 
 and east the Tigris, 277-285 ; buying, from the 
 Bedouin, 290-295 ; and in Arabian and I'raki towns, 
 296 ; procuring, through consulates or consuls, 297, 
 298; buying exported Arabians, 299-313; proper 
 treatment of the same, 314-321. 
 
 As a hunter: various estimates of, 209 et f.n. i, 
 316. 
 
 As a race-horse : Mr Blunt quoted on, 206, 207 et 
 f.n. I ; some performances on the turf in India cited, 
 207, 208. 
 
 Character of: rationale of the Arabian's tracta- 
 bility, 189 ; treatment as determining character 
 190; "abstemiousness," 191; fortitude and staying 
 power, 192, 193 ; courage, instinct, and sagacity 
 illustrated and discussed, 193 et seq. 
 
 Constitution, &'c., of: coughs, 174 ; spavine, 175, 
 176; splint, 176, 177; ringbone, 178; curb, ib.; 
 various shapes of foot, ib. ; necessity of shoeing 
 recognised by the Arabs, 179 ; their method of 
 shoeing and its results, ib., 180; "chest-founder" 
 •z/. " foot-founder," 181 et seq.; firing, 184; longev- 
 ity, 185 et f.ns. I, 2 ; durability, 185, 186 et f.n. i 
 et seq. 
 
 Cross, the Arab, the question of, considered, 137 ; 
 the circumstances in which crossing is of value, 
 206 ; is the Arab cross now calculated to improve 
 the English race-horse.'' ib. et seq.; or the hunter? 
 209 et f.n. I ; tried in Australia, 214 ; might it not 
 tend to strengthen the modern English race-horse? 
 21S. 
 
 Defects of: small stature, 197, 198 ; trotting and 
 jumping, 198 ; a careless walker, and therefore not 
 a perfect hack, ib., 199 ; rationale of this, 199 ; 
 prevalence of twisted fore - legs, 200, 201 ; at- 
 tempts to cure "toeing" by means of novelties 
 in horse-shoes, 202, 203 ; effect of over-weighting 
 on action, 204 et f.n. i. 
 
 Diseases of. See Constitutio?i of, and Treat?nent 
 of, whe?i exported. 
 
 In El I'rak and east the Tigris : Government 
 opposes obstacles to horse-breeding in, 278 ; the 
 animals bred are not generally of pure race, 279 ; 
 their manners, ib. ; need for castration, ib., 280 ; 
 the horses of the U'baid and Si-yih Bedouin, 280, 
 281; the Kurds and their horses, 281-283; 110 
 evidence that European blood is used, 283 ; the 
 stock is deteriorating, ib. ; possesses useful qual- 
 ities, 284 ; El I'rak as a country from which to 
 procure stud-horses, ib., 285. 
 
 In Shd-mi-ya and Al Ja-zi-ra : the pure-bred 
 Arabian is essentially the same in and out of 
 Najd, 269; the horse of the Euphrates Bedouin 
 often has the advantage in physique, ib. ; consid- 
 erable prices asked and obtained for their horses 
 by the Bedouin of Sha-mi-ya, 270 ; two famous 
 racers of Sha-mi-ya, ib., 271 ; many adulterated 
 kinds of horses found in the same localities, 271 ; 
 the Ba-ri-zi-ya as horse-breeders, 272, 273 ; the 
 Turku-ma-ni horses, 272 et seq. ; the horse stock 
 here is composed of diverse elements, 273 et seq. 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 407 
 
 Naturalisation of , abroad, 219 ct f.n. 3, 220. 
 Origin of: some poetic accounts of, 226 et f.n. 
 3 ; the myth of Solomon's colts, 226 et seq. ; every 
 genuine Arabian believed by enthusiasts to be de- 
 scended from strains preserved by Solomon, 227 
 et seg. ; theory that the male parent transmits the 
 qualities of the breed, 230, 231 ; the opposite 
 opinion held by the Bedouin, 231, 332; the desert 
 tradition of the Ku-hai-la-tu 'l a'-juz, 233 ; and 
 of Al Kham-sa, ib. et seq. \ historical testimony re- 
 garding, discussed, 238 et seq. ; literary evidence 
 of antiquity of the Arabian breed, 239, 240 ; sug- 
 gestions on this question, 241 et seq. 
 Piirchasiiig, methods of: — 
 
 (i.) From the Bedouin, 290-296 ; folly of em- 
 ploying agents, 290 ; the intending purchaser's 
 starting-point, 291 ; preparations and outfit, 292, 
 293 ; route, 292 et seq. ; how far to adopt Arab 
 usages, 293; camel-dealing, ib., if^li,; establish- 
 ment of a horse-nursery, 294 ; the selection and 
 purchase, 295. 
 
 (2.) In Arabian and I'raki towns, difficulties 
 of buying in, 69, 296, 297 ; the activity of the 
 professional buyers, 297. 
 
 (3.) Through Consulates or Consuls, 297, 298 ; 
 the influence of Consuls in the country, 297 ; 
 obstacles in the way of their approaching the 
 Bedouin, 298. 
 
 (4.) In the Bombay stables : (a) Buying horses 
 for ordinary purposes, 302-304; the genuineness 
 of every so-called Arabian should be carefully as- 
 certained, 302 ; instances of horses of other breeds 
 being mistaken for Arabians, ib., 303 ; the points 
 to be looked for, 304. {b) Buying for the turf, 
 304-308; the difficulty of selecting apart from 
 actual trial, 305 ; the chances of picking a 
 hero by accident, ib., 306 ; some rejected horses 
 ■which became famous, 306 - 308 ; use of the 
 time test, 308, 309 ; buying tried horses, 309, 
 310 ; some indications as to the qualities of ex- 
 ported Arabians, 31 1-3 14; geldings, 311; fired 
 horses, ib., 312 ; scars at the roots of the ears, 
 312 ; every horse is represented as having 
 come from the desert, ib. ; marks caused by 
 hobbling, 313. 
 
 Treatment of, when exported : is there ''such a 
 thing as "acclimatisation"? 314; management of, 
 in India, 315, 316; suitability of the British cli- 
 mate, ib. ; method of stabling, 317-319 ; and groom- 
 ing, 318 et f.ns. 2, 3; treatment of disease, 319, 
 320 et f.n. I ; advisability of obtaining veterinary 
 surgeon's opinion as to soundness, 320, 321. 
 
 Typical Arabian, the : sense in which the Ara- 
 bian is "thoroughbred," 245-247; how is proof of 
 " thorough-breeding " to be obtained ? 247 ; on this 
 point oral tradition is not infallible, 248 ; while 
 turf performances are inconclusive, ib. ; and the 
 evidence of the eye equally so, 249; Mr Palgrave's 
 description of, considered, 250, 251 ; group of six 
 typical Arabians depicted, and remarked on, 252, 
 253 et f.n. 5; "Greylag's" history and points, 254- 
 256; " Hermit" described, 256; size as a feature of, 
 256-258; "Rex," 256 et seq.; colour, 260 et seq.; 
 mental characteristics, 267, 26S. 
 
 Horse-boxes, travelling, proper fittings of, 316 ct f n. i, 
 317 etf.n. I. 
 
 Horse-breeding, list of peoples of the Tigris who pur- 
 sue, 84 f.n. I ; practice of, among the Bedouin, 121- 
 145 ; among the settled Arabs, 146-154. 
 
 Horse-dealer, the, of Arabia, 123 f.n. i ; his use of 
 high-sounding names, 236 ; his representations as 
 to " blood," 248 et f.n. i ; his search in our day for 
 small Arabians, 259, 260 ; illustrative anecdote, ib.; 
 his keenness for trade, 296, 297 ; his speculative 
 character, 299, 300 ; in Bombay, 300 ; his risks and 
 his caution in buying, 301 ; instances of his judg- 
 ment in choosing racing Arabs, 306, 307 ; his liabil- 
 ity to error, 307 ; his persuasive eloquence, 308 ; his 
 tendency to represent every horse as desert born 
 and bred, 312 ; how he manufactures the " Fort 
 Adjutant's mark," 313. 
 
 Horsemanship, Bedouin, the, 138-140 ; a poet's de- 
 scription of, 143. 
 
 Horse-mart, Der as a, 68 et seq. ; Egypt as a, 299 ; 
 Bombay as a, ib. et seq. 
 
 Horse-pastures, the, of Australasia, 9 ^/ f.n. i. 
 
 Horse-provender among the Arabs, 80 f n. 3. 
 
 Horse-racing, not practised by the Arabs, 131 et f.n. 
 3, 24S f.n. I ; in India, 304, 310, et passim. 
 
 Horse-shoe, the Asiatic (with illustration), 179, 180. 
 See also Index i., art. Na'l. '■ 
 
 Horse-shoe nails in El I'rik, 203 f.n. i. 
 
 Horses, European, is it possible to ward off decline in, 
 by crossing with Arabs? 218 ; their good qualities 
 would be developed, were they admitted to closer 
 intimacy with their masters, 220, 221 ; the spread of 
 their ears a point disliked by the Arabs, 312. 
 
 Horses, wild, can never have existed in peninsular 
 Arabia, 7, 8, 74, 229 ; reported indications of, in 
 Mongolia and Northern Thibet, 89 f.n. i. 
 
 Hospitality of A-mir Muhammad of Jabal Sham-mar, 
 43 ; Bedouin, ancient and modern instances of, 62 
 f.n. 2, 114. 
 
 Hump of the camel, the, a provision in time of lean- 
 ness, 294 f.n. I. 
 
 Hunter, the Arabian horse as a. See under Horse, 
 the Arabian. 
 
 Hyder A'li, of Mysore, partly of Arab lineage, 95. 
 
 Hyderabad, the late Nizam of, his prohibition of the 
 sale of intoxicants, 54 f.n. 4 ; Arab blood said to 
 have been imported into India by Hyderabad Gov- 
 ernment, 1 87. 
 
 Illiterate condition of the Bedouin Arabs, the, 132, 247. 
 
 Immaculate Conception, doctrine of the, in how far 
 preached by the Prophet Muhammad, 96 f.n. i. 
 
 Inbreeding, practice of, by Arab horse-breeders, 243 
 et seq. 
 
 India, mad dogs in, 33 f.n. 2, 315 fn. I ; the decadence 
 of horse-breeding in, 91 ; the indigenous horses of, 
 a century ago, ib., 187 ; importance of the Arabian 
 horse to, 16S ; as a market for Arabian horses, 175 ; 
 the Rajpijt's anxiety to keep his old breeds pure, 
 188, 189 ; pony-racing in, 259 ; the tat-tii (pony) of, 
 ib. f.n. I ; the Government of, does not buy greys 
 for the stud, 265 f.n. i ; horse-racing in, 304, 310, 
 
4o8 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 et passim J facilities for the transport of horses from 
 Bussorah to, 315; effects of its climate on Arabian 
 horses, ib., 316. 
 
 Intoxicants, use of, and the Arabs, 52 et seq., 119. 
 
 Irrigation of the Arabian deserts, how it would affect 
 the Bedouin, 50; in El I'rak, 79. 
 
 Ishmael, Abraham commanded to sacrifice, accord- 
 ing to Al Kur-an, 115, 116; his twelve sons the 
 founders of twelve tribes of Arabs, 117, iiS. 
 
 " Ishmaelitic," the, and the " Yemenite " Arabs, con- 
 trasts between, 118 et seq. 
 
 Islamism, its connectionswith Judaism, loi ; in Arabia, 
 a townsman's creed, 114; the Bedouin's position 
 with regard to, 128, 129, 160; the question of the 
 obligation of a Muslim people to yield obedience to 
 a non-Muslim ruler, 163 f.n. 4 ; examples of its 
 toleration of persons of other faiths, ib. 
 
 Israel, meaning of the name, 157 ; the close connec- 
 tion between, and Arabia, in ancient times, 100, 
 loi ; did the Semite group which ultimately de- 
 veloped into "Israel" come originally from the 
 Arabian desert? 103, ^^bk. ii. ch. n. passim. 
 
 Israelites, the, deportations of, by Assyrian or Baby- 
 lonian kings, 100; forbidden to breed or import 
 horses, 157 et f n. i. 
 
 " Ivo," the N.S. Wales colt by " Chester," 195, 241, 
 242 et f.n. I, 273. 
 
 Jewish names, changing of, when Islamism embraced, 
 
 106. 
 Jewish religion, connection between, and Islamism, 
 
 lOI. 
 
 Jewish settlements, ancient, on the Tigris and Eu- 
 phrates, 100, lOI. 
 Jews, conversion of, to Islamism, loi, 106 fn. 3. 
 
 K 
 
 Kithiawar, colour and markings of the horses of, 226 
 f n. 2. 
 
 Kerr, General Lord Mark, G.C.B., his views and prac- 
 tice of horsemanship, 141 f.n. I. 
 
 Khaz-ga hieroglyphics, or camel brands, the (with 
 illustration), 67 et f n. 3. 
 
 Kindness, the effect of, in forming the Arabian's char- 
 acter, I go, 191. 
 
 " Kingcraft," the Australian race-horse, 186. 
 
 " Laili " and the Maharajah Ranjit Singh, p. vi et f n. 
 2 of prefixes of volume. 
 
 Lancer, the skill of a Sham-mar, 76. 
 
 Lane, Mr E. W., his suggestion as to origin of name 
 "Arabia," 19 f.n. 2; his view of the Semitic lan- 
 guages, 105 f.n. I ; his Arabic lexicon, prefatory 
 note to Index i., 324. 
 
 " Lanercost," the Arabian race-horse (with full-page 
 illustration), 309. 
 
 Lawrence, author of 77?^ Horse, quoted regarding 
 longevity in horses, 1S5 fn. 2. ^ 
 
 Layard, Sir H. A., a legend of Hatim's generosity 
 related by, 62 f.n. 2 ; references to, 74, 149 f n. i ; 
 the subdivisions of the Sham-mar nation according 
 to, 122 fn. 5 ; a curious custom of desert warfare 
 noted by, 124; his description of Shekh Sfuk's 
 mare, ib. fn. i ; costume as a traveller, 149 fn. i. 
 
 Locusts, 12; the reception of a flight of, in the settled 
 parts of Arabia, 13 ; a source of food-supply to the 
 nomads, //;., 14. 
 
 Loin-ill, the disease of, in India, 314 et f n. i. 
 
 Longevity in exported Arabians, instances of, 185 fn. 
 I ; and in our own breeds, ib. f n. 2. 
 
 Lyall, Mr C. J., his Tra?tslaiions of Ancient Arabian 
 Poetry referred to, 49. 
 
 M 
 
 " Magdala," show-name in England of the Bengal 
 race-horse "Verdant Green," 192 et fn. i. 
 
 Mameluke bit, the, 150 et fn. i. 
 
 Management of domesticated animals by the Arabs, 
 the, 196. 
 
 Maps of Arabia, 22 et f ns. i and 2. 
 
 Marco Polo, description by, of a Tatar stud, 266 ; his 
 account of the " Old Man of the Mountain," Index 
 i., 330 ; his reference to the " kingdom of Mawsal," 
 ib. 372 ; to Turkumani horses, ib. 394. 
 
 Mare, the desert, v. the desert stallion, as a means of 
 introducing the "Arab cross," 214, 215 ; pre-emi- 
 nence ascribed to the, by the Arabs, 231 et seq., 241. 
 
 Mare's milk. See under Kumis in Index i. 
 
 " Marengo," Bonaparte's charger, 253 et f n. 5. 
 
 " Markham Arabian," the, 138 et f n. i. 
 
 Markings and colours of horses, superstitions of the 
 Bedouin Arabs regarding, 264. 
 
 Marriage, legislation of the Prophet Muhammad re- 
 garding, 17 fn. I ; practice of the Bedouins as to 
 consanguineous, 94 et seq., 231. 
 
 Martin, W. C. L., A History of the Horse by, quoted, 
 204 f n. I. 
 
 Mary, the Virgin, the immaculate conception of. 
 Gibbon's suggestion that this tenet was "borrowed 
 from Al Kur-an," 96 f.n. i ; the late Dean of West- 
 minster's view, ib. ; the Arab Prophet's teaching on 
 this point, ib. 
 
 Mecca, the condition of modern, 19, 20, 160 et f.n. 3 ; 
 no representative of a foreign power at, 47 ; dress 
 worn by the pilgrim approaching, 143 f.n. 6 ; tombs 
 destroyed by the Wahabis at, 162 et f n. 2. 
 
 Medina, the date-palms around, 12 f n. i ; the city of 28. 
 
 Mesopotamia, the application of this geographical term 
 uncertain, 70 et fn. 1,71, 74, in fn. 2. 
 
 " Minuet," the Arab race-horse, 306. 
 
 Mirage, the, 81 f.n. 5. See also Sa-rab, in Index i. 
 
 " Monarch," the Arab race-horse, and the Goodwood 
 Cup, 208. 
 
 Mongolia, wild horses of, 89 f n. i ; horses of, 238 et 
 fn. I. 
 
 Mosque, the term, 163 f.n. 2. 
 
 Mosul, 13, 125 ; no British consul at, 297. 
 
 Muhammad, the Prophet of Arabia, v. Index i. 
 
 Mule, the, not fully adapted for desert travel, 76 ; 
 largely bred by the settled Arabs, 159 ; the Arab 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 409 
 
 tradition regarding the origin of its sterility, ib. ; 
 the female follows the muleteer's riding-horse, 311. 
 Muslim, the followers of El Islam properly known as, 
 loi f.n. 2. 
 
 N 
 
 " Najdi Arabs," remarks on this term as current among 
 
 horsemen in India, 31. 
 Naming of horses, the, by the Arabs, 237. 
 Naturalisation of animals, some facts regarding the, 
 
 314. See also under Horse, the Arabian. 
 Navigators, the Arabs as, 21 et f.n. i. 
 Nervousness, constitutional, in horses, as distinct 
 
 from mere " ine.xperience," 195. 
 Niebuhr quoted on the delimitation of Arabia, 20. 
 "Nimrod," quoted on splint, 177. 
 Nolan, Capt., book on cavalry by, referred to, 198. 
 Nomadic races, the, of Arabia proper, 15, 59 f.n. 2. 
 Nose-bag, the horse's, 318 f.n. i. 
 
 o 
 
 " Oranmore," the Arab race-horse, 207, 208. 
 
 Oriental Sporting Magazine, the, quoted regarding 
 the Arab horse " Copenhagen" and the Goodwood 
 Cup, 208 ; Esau bin Curtas quoted, as to blood 
 in Arab horses, 248 f.n. i ; the Bombay Orieiital 
 Sporting Magazine and the " Fort Adjutant's 
 mark," 313. 
 
 Origin of the Arabian horse. See under Horse, the 
 Arabian. 
 
 Ottoman Government, the, now holds Al Ha-s&, 30 et 
 f.n. 2 ; and Wahabyism, 44, 45 ; influences the 
 Najdian clans but slightly, 45 ; its position in Al 
 Ja-zi-ra, 71, 72 ; has but a varying influence over 
 the Bedouin nations of El I'rak, 119, 120; collec- 
 tion of the dues of, by the mounted police, 147 ; 
 endeavours to stop the export of horses via El I'rak, 
 161, 278, 296; its system of rule in El I'rik, 278; 
 does not foster horse-breeding in El I'rak, ib. ; its 
 jealousy of Consuls, 297, 298. 
 
 Over-weighting, as a cause of defective action, 204 et 
 f.n. I. 
 
 Owen, Surgeon- Major, CLE., on wild horses, 89 
 f.n. I. 
 
 Pad, or saddle, of the Bedouin, 141 (with illustration). 
 
 Paganism of ancient Arabia, features of the, 128 et 
 seq. 
 
 Palgrave, Mr W. G., his assertion that the hordes of 
 the Sha-ri-rat are of the genuine Bedouin contro- 
 verted, 16 ; the delimitation of Arabia according 
 to, 19; boundary given to Najd by, 32 f.n. i; his 
 journey across the Peninsula, 35, 36 ; his estimate 
 of the population of Ja-bal Sham-mar, 39 f.n. I ; on 
 the horse-yield of Najd, 57, 58 ; his estimate of the 
 numbers of the Ae-ni-za and the Sham-mar nations, 
 63 f.n. I ; his statements in the Ency. Brit, on 
 Arabian topics on many points misleading, 99 et 
 f.n. 2 ; the Sha-ra-rat Arabs are not, as represented 
 
 by him, sun-worshippers, 12S ; his contention that 
 the true Arabian horse is inaccessible to foreigners 
 shown to be erroneous, 210; his statements in the 
 Ency. Brit, on the Najdi breed examined, 210-212 ; 
 his view that the pure Arabian stock has never 
 been subdivided, refuted, 236 ; his description of 
 the A-mir Fai-sal's horses criticised, 250, 251 ; his 
 remarks on the colour of the genuine Arabian 
 confuted, 260, 261. 
 
 Palmyra, or Tadmor, 66 et f.n. i. 
 
 Pater, General, anecdote of, and his charger, 204 
 f.n. I. 
 
 Pedigrees of Arabian horses written (with full-page 
 illustration), 136; Arabs give the mare the pre- 
 eminence in, 231 ; the true Bedouin will frankly 
 tell all they know regarding, 247, 248. 
 
 Pedlars in the Arabian desert, 294 f.n. 2. 
 
 Pelly, General Sir Lewis, K.C.S.I., his journey to Ar 
 Ri-adh, 36 et f.n. 2 ; his description of the sandy 
 desert, 37. 
 
 Peninsular Arabia, 25-61 ; nomadic nations of, 59 
 f.n. 2. 
 
 Percivall, Mr, on splint, 177 ; on coffin-joint lameness, 
 182. 
 
 Persia, the blood-horse in, 198 f.n. i ; the Persians as 
 breeders and managers of horses, 239 f.n. i. 
 
 Persian Gulf, the littoral of, at one time greater in 
 extent than now, 78 f.n. 3. 
 
 Personification, love of the Arabs for, 34 f.n. i. 
 
 Philology, remarks on, prefatory note to Index i., 
 324 ; science of, comparative, still in its infancy. 
 Index i., 345, 346 f.n. 
 
 Physical aspect of the Arabs in connection with the 
 question of their origin, 103. 
 
 Pococke, Dr R., quoted regarding site of " Ur of the 
 Chaldees," 1 1 1 f.n. 2. 
 
 Poetical genius of the primitive Arabs, the, 135 eti.n%. 
 
 3. 4- 
 Pony, the, of India, 259 f.n. i. 
 Pony-racing in India, effects of, 259, 260. 
 Pool, Mr Stanley Lane, and the " Table-talk " of the 
 
 Prophet Muhammad, 93 f.n. i. 
 Prehistoric horse, the, 225. 
 Presents, oriental diplomacy regarding the acceptance 
 
 and rejection of, 42 f.n. i ; the giving of, among the 
 
 Arabs, very often only another form of selling, 47, 
 
 296. 
 Proper names of the Arabs, 105 ; manufacture of 
 
 Arabic proper names by Jewish converts, 106 et seq. 
 Purchasing the Arabian horse. See under Horse, 
 
 the Arabian. 
 Purity of blood, claim to, by the Bedouin Arabs, 93 et 
 
 seq. ; their faith in, as horsemen, 137, 231, 267 et 
 
 passim, yyj. 
 
 "Raby," the Arab race-horse, iSi f.n. i. 
 
 Rachel, of Scripture, her acts and traits typical of 
 
 modern tent-life on the Euphrates, no f.n. i ; her 
 
 tomb, ib. 
 Racing, buying Arabians with a view to, in Bombay, 
 
 304-308. 
 Raiding, across the Euphrates, 67 ; the Bedouin method 
 
4IO 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 of, 112 f.n. I, 127, 12S ; qualities required to make a 
 horse excel in, 131, 24S ; the Bedouin horses ex- 
 pressly bred for, 242. 
 
 Rain, effect of, in Sha-mi-ya, described by Lady A. 
 Blunt, 68. 
 
 Rainfall, the, of Najd, 50 ; of Sha-mi-ya, 67, 68 ; of 
 El I'rak, So. 
 
 Rajputana, breeding of horses in, 1S9. 
 
 Rawlinson, General Sir H. C, quoted, 6 f.n. i ; his 
 bay Arabian, 260 ; his estimate of the numbers of 
 the Kurd nation, 282 f.n. 2. 
 
 "Red Hazard," the Arabian race-horse, 176, 306. 
 
 Religious beliefs, the, of the Bedouin Arabs, 128, 139, 
 160; Dr Wallin quoted regarding, 129 f.n. i. 
 
 " Revenge," the Arabian race-horse, 270. 
 
 " Rex," the Arabian race-horse, his career (with full- 
 page illustration), 256-258. 
 
 Riding-halter, the, of the Bedouin Arabs (with illus- 
 tration), 140, 141. 
 
 Ringbone, 17S. 
 
 Rivers, the, of Al Ja-zi-ri, difificult of access by reason 
 of their steep banks, 73. 
 
 Roberts', General Lord, favourite Arab charger, 185 
 f.n. I. 
 
 Ross, Dr, among the Sham-mar Bedouin, 75, 76. 
 
 Rous, Admiral, on the development of the English 
 thoroughbred, 197 ; cited, 243 f.n. 3, 305. 
 
 Russell, Rev. John, his breed of terriers, 240 et f.n. 6. 
 
 Sabffians, the religion of the, 28 f.n. 2. See also 
 Index i., f.n. to article Sa-ba, p. 382. 
 
 Saddlery, the, of the Bedouin (with illustration), 141, 
 240-244 passim; of the settled Arabs (with illus- 
 tration), 147, 14S. 
 
 Sadlier, Captain, his journey across the Arabian pen- 
 insula in 1819, 35 ; quoted, ib. 
 
 Salar Jung, Sir, the late Nawab, G.C.S.I., of Hydera- 
 bad, Arab lineage of, 95 ; an Argamak horse taken 
 to, by a Hirati dealer, 274. 
 
 Scott, Sir W., ballad by, quoted with reference to 
 colour in horses, 267. 
 
 Seasons, the four, recognised by the Bedouin, 50 f.n. 2. 
 
 Self-command, the, of the Arabian horse, 267, 268. 
 
 Semite, explanation of the term, 92 f.n. 2. 
 
 Semitic languages, the, Lane's observations on, 105 f.n. 
 I ; mystery of the triliteral root of, Index i., 345, 
 346 f.n. 
 
 Sheba, Queen of, visit of, to Solomon, 27. 
 
 Shetland cattle, dried fish as food of, 12. 
 
 Shoe, the Eastern horse- (with illustration), 179, 180; 
 some novelties in (with illustrations), 201-203. 
 
 Shoe, the, of th€*Arabs (with illustration), 97 f.n. 4. 
 
 Shoeing horses, the necessity of, recognised by the 
 Arabs, 179; their method of, and its effects, 179-181; 
 in India and in Baghdad, 202, 203. 
 
 Sidney's Book of the Horse quoted, 165, 170, 257 
 f.n. I. 
 
 Sinaitic peninsula, elimination of the, in considering 
 the country of the Arabian horse, 25. 
 
 " Sir Benjamin," the Cape horse, 273. 
 
 Size, as a character in horses, 197. 
 
 Skene, Mr, the late, of Aleppo, on the horses of the 
 desert, 212, 213; his purchases of Arabians, 213 et 
 f.n. 2, 2 1 8. 
 
 Smith, Lieut.-Col. Ham., on the Arabian breed of 
 horses, 261. 
 
 Smith, Prof. W. Robertson, The Old Testajiient in the 
 Jewish Church by, referred to, 115 f.n. 4. 
 
 Solomon and the hoopoe, tradition regarding, 12 et 
 f.n. 3 ; his genius for trading, 27 ; the myth of, and 
 the seven colts, 226 et f.n. 3 ; his renown in 
 Western Asia, 226; believed by the Arabs to have 
 been one of them, 227 ; the legend regarding his 
 sacrifice of certain mares, ib.; every genuine 
 Arabian horse believed by many to derive his pedi- 
 gree from strains preserved by, ib. et seq. 
 
 Spavine, 175, 176. 
 
 Speech of the Arabs, the, in connection with the 
 question of their origin, 104 et seq. 
 
 Splint, 176, 177. 
 
 Sponge, use of the, in stable economy, 31S f.n. 2. 
 
 Spur, the Bedouin (with illustration), 142 ; use and 
 abuse of the, 195 f.n. i. 
 
 Stabling of Arabian horses, 317-319. 
 
 Stirrups, the advantage of being able to ride without, 
 illustrated, 141 f.n. i ; an ornamental variety of 
 (with illustration), 148. 
 
 " Stockings " in horses. Eastern ideas regarding, 264 
 ei f.n. 2. 
 
 Strabo, his statement that Yemen contained neither 
 horses nor mules considered, 27; on the ancient in- 
 habitants of S. Arabia, 97. 
 
 Straight fore-legs, galloping with, 243. 
 
 Stud-book, the English, its beginning and history, 
 246, 247. 
 
 Stud-horses, the procuring of, from " Turkish Arabia," 
 284. 
 
 Sultan, H.I.M. the, of Turkey, 30 f.n. 2, 71, 147 ; the 
 relations between, and the A-mir Muhammad of Ja- 
 bal Sham-mar, 44, 45 ; his personality a formidable 
 factor in Osmanli politics, 278. 
 
 Sun-worship, is it practised by any of the Arabs ? 
 128, 129. 
 
 Superstitions of the Bedouin Arabs, the, regarding 
 colours and markings of horses, 264. 
 
 Swiss merchant, a, robbed and stripped by the desert 
 Arabs, 36 f.n. 3. 
 
 Syrian desert, the. See page references under Sha- 
 mi-ya in Index i. 
 
 Tail of the Arab horse, set given to, by the Bedouin, 
 251. 
 
 Tattersall, the late Mr Richard, sentiments regarding 
 Arabian horses, 169. 
 
 Tell el Amarna, in Upper Egypt, finding of Cunei- 
 form Tablets at, 105 f.n. i. 
 
 Tents, purchasing, in towns like Baghdad, 76 f.n. i. 
 
 Thibet, Northern, accounts of wild horses in, 89 f.n. i. 
 
 Thoroughbred, Admiral Rous on the progressive 
 improvement of the English, 197 ; Mr Blunt's at- 
 tempt to produce a new race of, 220, 246 ; sense in 
 which the Arabian is, 94, 245-247 ; wherein consists 
 the proof of " thorough-breeding " ? 247 et seq. 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 411 
 
 Thunderstorm, an Arabian poet's description of a, 
 translated, 49 witli f.ns. 
 
 Tigris, the river, mixed population of valley of, 16, 84 ; 
 scenery of the same tract, 81 ; list of horse-breeding 
 nations of, 84 f n. i ; the horses of its valley are of 
 adulterated blood, 271. 
 
 Tigris-land. See under [El] 1'rXk, in Index i., for 
 page references. 
 
 Time test, use of the, before buying Arabians for 
 racing, 308 et scq. 
 
 Tobacco, the Bedouin's love of, 52, 164 et f n. 2 ; not 
 tolerated by Wahabyism, 164. 
 
 "Toeing," a defect of Arabian horses, 199, 200; at- 
 tempts made to remedy this by means of novelties 
 in horse-shoes, 202, 203 ; another remedy suggested, 
 204. 
 
 Toleration, examples of, shown by the Muslim, 163 
 f.n. 4. 
 
 Tombs, destruction of, by the Wahabis, 162 et f.n. 2. 
 
 "Touchstone," the race-horse, 199 fn. 3, 243, 271. 
 
 Transcription of Arabic words in Roman letters, 
 note on the, pp. ix, x of prefixes of volume. 
 
 Transport of Arab horses to England, the, 316 et fn. 
 I, 317 et fn. I. 
 
 Travellers in Arabia, treatment of, 33 et f.n. 2 ; hints 
 to, 149 et f n. I, 292-295. 
 
 Tripping. See Toeing. 
 
 Turkish Government. See Ottoman. 
 
 Turku-man nation, article in Blackwood's Magazine 
 quoted on history of the, 272. 
 
 Turku-ma-ni horse, the, article in Blackwood's Maga- 
 zi7te quoted on, 272 ; blood relationship between, 
 and the Arabian, 273 ; the Argamak variety of, 274 
 et f.n. I ; mongrel Turku-ma-nis often mistaken for 
 large Arabians, 274-276. 
 
 TurnbuU, Gen. and Mrs, Arab horse in the posses- 
 sion of, 185 f.n. I. 
 
 u 
 
 Upton, Major, quoted, 7 fn. i, 213 fn. i; his purchase 
 of mares from the Ae-ni-za, 218 ; his views on the 
 origin and history of the Arabian breed, 228, 229, 
 246; chose his stud-horses from the Bedouin of 
 the Euphrates, 270. 
 
 " Ur of the Chaldees," locality of, discussed, in f.n. 
 2. 
 
 V 
 
 Veiling of women, the, among the Arabs, 134 et fn. i. 
 
 " Venus," the Arabian race-horse, 270. 
 
 "Verdant Green," the Bengal-bred race-horse, 192 et 
 f.n. I. 
 
 Veterinary examination of Arabian horses, advisa- 
 bility of, as soon as possible after they have been 
 brought to a civilised country, 320. 
 
 w 
 
 Wahabyism, has been twice repressed, 30 et f n. 2 ; 
 
 its claim to the title of the true Is-lam considered, 
 161 et f n. 2 ; its primary aims, 162 ; failed to im- 
 press the Bedouin, ib. ; found expression in the de- 
 struction of tombs, ib. et f n. 2 ; the puritanical 
 rigour of, 162-164 ; parallelisms between, and cer- 
 tain developments of Puritanism in Europe, 163, 
 164 et f.ns. ; how, under its spread, the horse's 
 importance was increased, 164 ; and his diffusion 
 promoted, 165. 
 
 Wallin, Dr, of Finland, quoted regarding religious 
 beliefs of nomadic Arabs, 129 fn. i. 
 
 Water, extreme importance attached to, in the East, 
 4, 5 et f n. I ; the water of some localities favours 
 animal growth more than that of others, 5 ; the value 
 of running water in horse-breeding, 9 et f n. i ; the 
 Arab method of drawing, 47 f.n. 3 ; how the Bedouin 
 contend against the want of, 48 et seq. ; drought in 
 Arabia, 50 et seq. ; water not stored by the Bedouin, 
 ib. ; steep banks make the rivers of El I'r^k difficult 
 of access, 73. 
 
 Water-famine, description of a, in Arabia, 51. 
 
 Water-wheels on the Euphrates, 81 f n. 2. 
 
 Weapons of Arabia, the, 104 f n. i ; pre-Islamic bal- 
 lad translated regarding ancient, ib. 
 
 Wellhausen, Prof, art. "Moses" in Ency. Brit, by, 
 referred to regarding circumcision by Zipporah of 
 her son, 113 f.n. 3 ; art. " Pentateuch " in Ency. Brit. 
 by, quoted as to history of Ishmael, 115 fn. 4; 
 meaning of name Israel, according to, 157. 
 
 White asses, the, of Al Ha-sa, 31. 
 
 White horses and mares, stud of, kept by a Tatar 
 sovereign, 266. 
 
 White, the late Mr James, of Sydney, 214, 241 f.n. i. 
 
 Wild horses. See Horses, wild. 
 
 William IV., King, dispersion of his stud of Arabian 
 horses, 252 et f.n. i. 
 
 Wine, the Bedouins' abstinence from, considered, 52 
 et seq., 119. 
 
 Wine-sellers' booths, flags used as signs for, in pagan 
 Arabia, 106 f n. 2. 
 
 Wood, Mr R., his work on the Ruins of Palmyra re- 
 ferred to, 66 fn. I. 
 
 Works consulted by the author, list of principal, pp. 
 xi-xiii of prefixes of volume. 
 
 Wiirtemberg, the late King of his stud of Arabians, 
 2ig. 
 
 Y 
 
 "Yemenite," the, and the " Ishmaelitic" Arabs, con- 
 trasts between, 118 et seq. 
 
 Yeok Tepe, as a centre for the purchase of Argamak 
 horses, 274 f n. i. 
 
 Youatt, Mr W., quoted, 253. 
 
 " Young Revenge," the Arab race-horse, 270 f n. 2, 
 307, 308. 
 
 Zipporah, Moses' wife. See Index i. 
 
PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS. 
 
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