Part 31

"The ninth arrives at last. He is the Lathim, the buffeted one, and receives blows from every one.

"On his traces follows, capering about, the Sokeït, the Silent one, with trouble in his face and humiliation on his forehead. The horseman who rides him at the tail of the others is the object of reproaches from all sides, and still more so his groom. It is of little use to ask who is his master,—no answer is to be had from those whom shame has made dumb.

"Whoso does not take to the race-course the horses that are most noble by birth ought to repent of it.

"In being present we have experienced the greatest gratification, without speaking of the glory and advantages we have carried off.

"In exchange for the seven reeds planted at the end of the course and carried off by the first seven as they arrived, we have received magnificent presents, such as it is seemly to offer.

"Striped calico from Yemen, dyed of various colours, and haïks of silk and of wool.

"We carried off all these stuffs spread out over our horses, with borders red as blood.

"In addition to all this they gave us silver coins by thousands, but this silver we never keep for ourselves. We distribute it among the servants who tend our horses, though we ourselves tend these with our own hands far more carefully than they do.

"These are horses that never drink any but the purest water, and never feed on any but the choicest food.

* * * * *

The Mussulman law distinguishes three ways of offering prizes for horse racing. The first is positively permitted, the second is so conditionally, and the third is utterly prohibited. In the first case, some one entirely without interest in the result of the race offers a prize, saying: "Whoever shall be victor in the race shall gain the prize." Kings, chiefs, and great personages whose rank or fortune places them in an exalted position, sometimes propose prizes in this manner, which is sanctioned without any condition. In the second case, an individual interested in the race, says: "I offer a prize which shall be given to the one first in." This mode is allowed, with the condition that if the donor himself is the first to arrive at the goal, the prize shall be given to the assembly. The third manner is that by which every one interested in the race offers a prize for the benefit of him by whom he is beaten. This style of racing is nothing more than a wager, and consequently is absolutely forbidden. Much more is betting by persons not concerned in the race formally prohibited.

ABD-EL-KADER ON THE ARAB HORSE.

Having known the Emir Abd-el-Kader during the time I held the office of French Consul at Mascara, from 1837 to 1839, and having again met him at Toulon in 1847, whither I had been ordered on special duty at the time of his first landing in France, I had full opportunity in my numerous interviews with him to appreciate his intimate acquaintance with all that related to the history of his country, as well as to all questions of horse-flesh. I did not hesitate, therefore, to ask his opinion on a subject of a purely scientific nature, which may nevertheless be of great moment, not only for the future interests of our colony, but for those of the country at large. The following is his reply, written under date of the 8th November, 1851.

Glory to the one God, whose reign alone endureth for ever!

Peace be with him who equals in good qualities all the men of his time, who aims only at what is good, whose heart is pure and his word abiding, the wise, the intelligent, the Lord General Daumas, on the part of your friend Sid-el-Hadj Abd-el-Kader, son of Mahhi-Eddin.

Behold the reply to your inquiries:—

1st. You ask me how many days an Arab horse can march without rest and without suffering too severely. Know, then, that a horse sound in every limb, that eats as much barley as his stomach can contain, can do whatever his rider can ask of him. For this reason the Arabs say: "Give barley and over-work him." But without tasking him overmuch, a horse can be made to do sixteen parasangs day after day. It is the distance from Mascara to Koudiat-Aghelizan on the Oued-Mina; it has been measured in cubits. A horse performing this journey every day, and having as much barley as it likes to eat, can go on, without fatigue, for three or four months, without lying by a single day.

2nd. You ask me what distance a horse can accomplish in a day. I cannot tell you very precisely, but it ought to be about fifty parasangs, or the distance from Tlemcen to Mascara. However, an animal that has performed such a journey ought to be carefully ridden on the following day, and allowed to do only a very much shorter distance. Most of our horses used to go from Oran to Mascara in a single day, and could repeat the journey for two or three consecutive days. On one occasion we started from Saïda about eight in the morning to fall upon the Arbâa, who were encamped at Aaïn-Toukria, among the Oulad-Aïad near Taza, and we came up with them at break of day.

3rd. You ask for examples of the temperance of the Arab horse, and for proofs of his power of enduring hunger and thirst. Know that when we were established at the mouth of the Melouïa, we used to make razzias into the Djebel-Amour, following the route of the Sahara, and on the day of attack pushing forward at the gallop for five or six hours at a stretch—the entire expedition, going and returning, being completed in twenty to twenty-five days at the outside. During this space of time our horses had no barley except what they carried with them, about enough for eight ordinary feeds. Nor did they find straw, or anything except the alfa and shiehh, and grass in the spring time. And yet, on rejoining our people, we performed the fantasia on our horses, and some among us burnt powder. Many, too, who were not fresh enough for the latter exercise, were quite able to go upon an expedition. Our horses would go a day or two without water, and once they found none for three days. The horses of the Sahara do far more than that, for they go three months without touching a grain of barley. Straw they meet with only when they go to the Tell to buy grain, and for the most part feed on the alfa, the shiehh, and sometimes the guetof. The shiehh is better than the alfa, but not so good as the guetof. The Arabs say:

The alfa is good for marching, The shiehh is good for fighting, And the guetof is superior to barley.

In certain years the horses of the Sahara have gone the whole twelve months without a grain of barley to eat, especially when the tribes have not been suffered to enter the Tell. At such times the Arabs give dates to their horses, which is a fattening food, and keeps them in condition for marching or fighting.

4th. You ask why, seeing the French do not mount their horses before they are four years old, the Arabs mount theirs at a very early age. Know that the Arabs say that horses, like men, are more easily taught when quite young. They have a proverb:

The lessons of infancy are engraved upon stone, The lessons of ripe age pass away like birds' nests.

They likewise say:

The young branch is made straight without much trouble, But the old wood can never be straightened.

In the very first year, the Arabs teach the colt to let itself be led by the reseum, a species of cavesson. They call it then djeda, and begin to fasten and bridle it. As soon as it has become teni, that is, as soon as it has entered on its second year, they ride it a mile or two, or even a parasang, and after it has completed eighteen months they do not fear to fatigue it. When it has become rebâa telata, that is, when it has entered on its third year, they tie it up, cease to ride it, cover it with a good djellal, and get it into condition. They say:

In his first year, tie him up lest he should meet with an accident; In his second year, ride him until his back bends; In his third year, again tie him up, and after that, if he does not suit you, sell him.

If a horse is not ridden before his third year, it is certain that he will never be good for anything but to gallop, which he does not need to learn, as it is his nature to do so: an idea thus expressed by the Arabs: "The noble horse gallops according to his race"—that is, a thoroughbred horse has no occasion to be taught to gallop.