greatest number, and the best horses in Arabia, and that they do come from Nejed, and that they are indeed a part of the population of Nejed, and when wandering, as a rule keep within the more remote parts of the desert, avoiding as far as possible all intercourse with the Turks, whom they dislike and despise.

Although representatives of the five families are distributed indiscriminately among the different tribes, it is necessary to know where to go for the best of each kind. Keheilans are to be found in all tribes. The Shammar in Mesopotamia have principally Hellawis, which are a third class of Keheilan. Of course there are some horses of the first class in their possession; and these have not been overdrawn by Mr. Layard, for the celebrated Anezah sheik Jedaan rode a mare constantly, which had been given him by the Shammar sheik, because she was unsurpassed in speed and bottom, so that he might not fall into the hands of the Shammar-the two sheiks having been playmates in their boyhood's days. But the Shammar have a bad They have Kurds and Persians in their close proximity, who would always be ready to pass off an animal of mixed breed as an Arab.

name.

The number of first-class animals among small tribes, such as the Mowali, must necessarily be small. Formerly at feud with the Anezah, but latterly often on friendly terms with them, they might have an opportunity of acquiring horses, or of breeding from their first-class horses.

The Fedan Anezah is a great fighting tribe, and use

M

and consume a great number of horses. They have very fine horses, and some of these must sometimes fall into other hands; their consumption in horseflesh is so great that they often have to buy from other tribes. The Roala and Ibu Haddal Anezah are well-horsed tribes; but of all, the Sebaa Anezah is the tribe for horses, and of their seven subdivisions the Gomassa have the reputation of possessing the finest horses in the world. The Seglawi Jedran is found in its greatest perfection among the Gomassa. The Fedan Anezah possess also two families. The Gomassa have also the best Abeyans and the best Maneghi: this latter a first-class subdivision of the Keheilan.

Although horses of equal beauty and perfection are to be found in all five families, the Seglawi Jedran may be the favourite among Bedouin, and, perhaps, the most famous.

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PART 3.

CHAPTER I.

The Arabian considered as a racer-Characteristics of Arab racing-His speed considered-Account of various races contested by Arabs in India-Racing sometimes slower in England-The normal speed of Arabs increased by a better system of training-No effort made to secure the importation of the best Arab horse-The European idea of size detrimental to the importation of good Arabs-Ibraheen-bin-Alee and Honeysuckle-The Arabs King David and Antelope.

HAVING discussed both the English horse of the Stud Book and the Arabian-the former having been clearly shown to be nothing more than a registered half-bred, while the latter is the real aristocrat and the true noble, always bearing in mind the necessity of pure breeding for the attainment of great excellence-we will proceed to consider how advantageous it would be to employ the Arabian first, to establish a pure breed in this country; secondly, how admirably he is adapted to raise the character of half-bred stock for the purpose. of field sports and for the army, even supposing that horses of such pure blood might not become available for both such purposes.

First, as a racer. It is said, and will be said again, the Arab is a small animal, and without speed, there

fore incapable of either being a racer or of begetting racing stock. This is a frequent assertion. Let us see if it holds good. Our horse which we call thorough-bred, 'our terribly high-bred racer,' is the Arab's half-bred descendant; the Arab has, in fact, made a breed of racers by the infusion of his blood into a very inferior breed. This part of the subject might be dismissed after the following words. Our racer, such as he is, is a living witness of the Arabian's capability to found and create a breed of racers. He has made a breed of racers in spite of the many inferior strains of blood that he has had to combat with; it is only reasonable to believe that had his blood been used alone, with the same advantages in cultivation and selection that have been bestowed upon his half-bred descendant, his purebred descendants would have exhibited greater excellence.

As a racer himself the Arabian possesses every natural gift and qualification-courage, docility, temper, endurance, good and untiring action, great determination, nervous energy, and speed; for a horse that can run two miles under Derby Course weights in 3 min. 48 secs. cannot truly be called a slow horse or devoid of speed. The speed exhibited by Arabians on the race-course may be termed their normal speed, in contradistinction to the artificial speed of the English racer, because he has not been bred generation after generation as a racer or for the sole sake of speed; but such Arab horses as have come to hand have shown this rate of speed and also ability to maintain a high rate of speed.

The Arab will run an honest and true horse from end to end; he stands training for years; his temper is so good, a large field can be sent from the post without difficulty the first time. Close finishes, severe struggles, dead heats, and not unfrequently dead heats after dead heats, are the characteristics of Arab racing. Open the pages of the 'Oriental Sporting Magazine,' and almost every start of Arabs is described as being got off in capital order the first time of asking—in the usual way, in fact. Then he is so kind and so generous! In his compact form is also contained every requisite for combined speed and strength—the broad, deep, and swelling chest (the most desirable for rapid progression), length in the right place, length of shoulders, length of quarters, length in his arms, immense power to work the parts of motion, and great nervous energy to excite the power; and, owing to his true symmetry, he has nothing superfluous to carry. All these points are more conspicuous and more developed in the Arabian than in any other horse. He has more length in proportion to size, and more power, is a bigger, larger, and far more powerful animal than our thorough-bred, in proportion to size. He does not open his mouth and drop his bit when you ask him to do his best. (It is worthy of consideration whether this trait has not been on the increase the last decade or two.) His heart is all right, and in the right place, which, with his sound constitution and his perfect formation, enables him not only to struggle to the end of his race, but to come out day after day.

The best criterion we have of the speed of the Arabian