The Horses of the Sahara 27

The Horses of the Sahara 27

"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.[54] 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.

 

5th. You ask me how it is, seeing that the foal derives more qualities

from its sire than from its dam, that mares are always higher priced

than horses. The reason is this. He who buys a mare does so with the

expectation that he will not only be able to make use of her for the

saddle, but will also obtain from her a numerous stock; while he who

buys a horse cannot hope to get any other advantage out of him than by

riding him.

 

6th. You ask me if the Arabs of the Sahara keep registers to establish

the descent of their horses. Know that the inhabitants of the Algerian

Sahara do not, any more than those of the Tell, concern themselves with

these registers. The notoriety of the fact suffices them; for pedigree

of their blood horses is as well known to every one as that of their

masters. I have heard it said that some families possessed these written

genealogies, but I cannot answer for the fact. Such books, however, are kept in the East.