The Horses of the Sahara 22

The Horses of the Sahara 22

Preserve me from what is in front,

I will preserve thee from what is behind.

 

"The lion and the horse disputed one day as to whose eyesight was the

best. The lion saw, during a dark night, a white hair in milk, but the

horse saw a black hair in pitch. The bystanders pronounced in favour of

the latter."

 

The highest virtue in a horse is endurance, to which, in order to

constitute a perfect animal, must be joined strength. A horse is

considered strong if he clears fifteen to sixteen foot-lengths in his

first bound. If he covers a greater space he is deemed to be of superior

strength, but if he clears no more than eight to ten feet he is set down

as a heavy animal. A very fiery horse never exhibits patience of

fatigue; nor one whose legs are lanky, neck too long, and buttocks too

heavy to be in harmony with other parts of his body; nor one who lacks

vigour in his heels. Such a horse, after a long course, will be

exhausted in his legs, so that when he is pulled up by his rider he will

still take several steps contrary to the latter's wishes. A horse that

has neither patience nor mettle is easily recognised. The form of his

body is irregular, his chest narrow, and his breathing short. Strength

and wind are the two highest qualities of a horse. The absence of either

is likely to affect his endurance and lower his spirit.

 

"Look in a horse for speed and bottom. One that has speed alone, and no

bottom, must have a blemish in his descent; and one that has bottom

alone and no speed, must have some defect, open or concealed.

 

"Reject a horse high in the middle, with a narrow chest, flat ribs, and

lanky limbs and that is for ever fidgetting about and holding up his

head. If you give him his head, he says: 'Hold me in!' and if you hold

him in, he says: 'Let me go!'

 

"But if in the course of your life you alight upon a horse of noble

origin, with large, lively eyes, wide apart, and black, broad nostrils,

close together; whose neck, shoulders, haunches, and buttocks are long,

while his forehead, loins, flank, and limbs are broad; with the back,

the shin-bone, the pasterns, and the dock short; the whole accompanied

by a soft skin, fine, flexible hair, powerful respiratory organs, and

good feet with heels well off the ground—hasten to secure him if you can

induce the owner to sell him, and return thanks to Allah, morning and

night, for having sent thee a blessing."

 

Never burden yourself with an animal that is broken-kneed, diseased, or

wounded, though they assure you that it is only a temporary accident.

Recall to mind the saying of your ancestors;

 

Ruined, and son of a ruined one,

Is he who buys to cure.

 

It is no uncommon thing for an Arab to buy a horse in partnership with

another. The usual conditions of such a compact are after this fashion.

An Arab sells a mare to another for 100 _douros_, but receives only 50

_douros_ in payment, the balance representing his share in the animal.

The purchaser rides the mare about, and makes use of her for war, the

chace, and for his private journeys. If he make a razzia, three-fourths

of the plunder belong to himself, and one-fourth to his partner. Should

the mare be killed in war, in an expedition mutually agreed upon, the

loss falls upon them equally. But should death overtake her at a

fantasia, a wedding, or any other festival, the purchaser is alone

answerable—he has to make good 50 _douros_ to the vendor. If the animal,

however, is killed in front of the tent, suddenly, or under the

horseman, while the latter is defending his wife, his children, and his

flocks,—the circumstances were beyond his control, and he is not called

upon for any reimbursement.

 

Should the mare produce a colt, it is reared until it is a year old,

when it is sold, and the proceeds equally divided between the partners.

On the other hand, if the mare has produced a filly, the latter is

valued when a year old, and the vendor has the privilege of choosing the

filly or the dam, paying or receiving the difference of value. This sort

of compact is never made with respect to horses.

 

An Arab who wishes to sell a horse will never consent to be the first to

name a price. Some one comes up and says: "Sell; thou wilt gain." The

vendor replies: "Buy; thou wilt gain."

 

"Speak thou first."

 

"No, speak thou."

 

"Was he purchased, or reared?"

 

"Reared in my tent, like one of my own children."

 

"What hast thou been offered for him?"

 

"I have been offered 100 _douros_."

 

"Sell him to me at that price—thou wilt gain. Tell me, then, what thou

asketh."

 

"See what is written with Allah."

 

"Come, let us drive away the previous bidder, and do thou take 10

_douros_ over and above his offer."

 

"I accept. Take thy horse, and Allah grant thou mayst be successful upon

his back as many times as he has hairs upon it." And should he be

desirous to avoid all risk of future annoyance on the subject of

warranty, he adds in the presence of witnesses: "The separation between

us is from this very moment. Thou dost not know me, and I have never

seen thee."

 

It is not permitted to mount a horse for a trial until after the price

has been agreed upon. Nevertheless, before the bargain is completely

concluded the animal is tested against a horse that has a certain local

reputation. The mode of trial is somewhat singular. The riders are

barefooted, and are not allowed to touch their horse with the heel

during any part of the race.

 

Horses whose reputation is well established in the country are never

sold in the market-place. It is a positive insult to an Arab to ask him,

"wilt thou sell thy horse?" before he has made known his intentions.

"They must think me then in a miserable condition," he will say, "that

they should dare to make such a proposal to me."

 

Certain tribes are particularly addicted to traffic in horse-flesh. The

most noted of these Arab horse-dealers are the Beni-Addas. It is said of

them:

 

With others, horses are mere carrion,

With them, they are youthful brides:

With others, they are asleep,

With them, they dance.

 

For the rest, the Arab is no horse-dealer after the European fashion. He

never makes use of ginger, nor does he resort to any trickery to

disguise the bad points of his horse. He simply places him before the

purchaser. But for the fraud he disdains he substitutes a flow of

seductive eloquence. His inexhaustible oratory pours itself forth in

metaphors and hyperboles. Pointing to the animal, he will say: "Uncover

his back and satisfy thy gaze."

 

He will then go on:

 

"Say not it is my horse; say it is my son. He outstrips the flash in the

pan, or a glance of the eye. He is pure as gold. His eyesight is so good

that he can distinguish a hair in the night time. In the day of battle

he delights in the whistling of the balls. He overtakes the gazelle. He

says to the eagle: 'Come down, or I will ascend to thee!' When he hears

the voices of the maidens, he neighs for joy. When he gallops he plucks

out the tear from the eye. When he appears before the maidens he begs

with his hand. It is a steed for the dark days when the smoke of powder

obscures the sun. It is a thoroughbred, the very head of horses! No one

has ever possessed his equal. I depend on him as on my own heart. He has

no brother in the world: it is a swallow. He listens to his flanks, and

is ever watching the heels of his rider. He understands as well as any

son of Adam: speech alone is wanting to him. His pace is so easy that on

his back, you might carry a cup of coffee without upsetting it. A

nosebag satisfies him, a sack covers him. He is so light that he could

dance on the bosom of thy mistress without bruising it."

 

The owner of the truly beautiful offers him for sale;

The owner of the swift one makes protestations.

 

Ben-Youssouf, having one day given in exchange for a mare of the desert

twenty she-camels with their young replied to his father who had keenly

rebuked him: "And why are you angry, my lord? Has not this mare brought

me the agility and the softness of skin of the jerboa, the movement of

the neck of the hare, the fleetness and the vision of the ostrich, the

hollow belly and the limbs of the greyhound, and the courage and breadth

of head of the bull? She cannot fail to turn yellow the face of our

enemies. When I pursue them, she will plunder without ceasing the croups

of their horses; and if they pursue after me, the eye will not know

where I have passed!"

 

It will be seen, as I had previously indicated in tracing the outline of

a thoroughbred horse as sketched by the Arabs, that they esteem it of

consequence that in his form he should borrow certain details from other

animals. He should unite in himself the qualities that are separately

remarked in the gazelle, the greyhound, the bull, the ostrich, the

camel, the hare, and the fox. It is agreed that he should have the long,

clean limbs of the gazelle, the fineness and strength of its haunches,

the convexity of its ribs, the shortening of its fore-legs, the

blackness of its eyes, and the straitness of its armpits, He should also

recall to mind the length of the lips and tongue of the dog, the

abundance of its saliva, and the length of the lower part of its

fore-paws. They go so far as to regard this resemblance of the horse to

the greyhound as a means of guiding inexperienced purchasers: at least,

such appears to be the moral of an anecdote widely circulated among

them.

 

"Meslem-ben-Abou-Omar, having learned that one of his relatives was

travelling near the banks of the Euphrates, desired to avail himself of

this opportunity to obtain one of the famous horses of that country. His

relative knew nothing about horses, but was very fond of the chace, and

had some very fine dogs. Despatching a servant with proper instructions