The Horses of the Sahara 28

The Horses of the Sahara 28

7th. You ask me which are the tribes of Algeria the most renowned for

the pure breed of their horses. Know that the best horses of the Sahara

are unquestionably those of Hamyân. They possess none but excellent

animals, because they never employ them to till the ground, or as beasts

of burden. They employ them solely on expeditions and in battle. These

are superior to all others in endurance of hunger, thirst, and fatigue.

Next in order come the horses of the Harar, the Arbâa, and the

Oulad-Naïl. In the Tell, the horses in the first rank for nobility of

race, for height and beauty of mould, are those of the Shelif,

especially those of the Oulad-Sidi-Ben-Abd-Allah, near the Mina, and

those of the Oulad-Sidi-Hassan, a section of the Oulad-Sidi-Dahhou, who

dwell in the highlands of Mascara. The fleetest in the race-course, and

at the same time of a beautiful shape, are those of the Flittas, the

Oulad-Sherif, and the Oulad-Lekreud. The best for traversing stony

ground, without being shod, are those of the Hassasna in the Yakoubia.

The following words are ascribed to Mulay-Ishmael, the celebrated Sultan

of Morocco.

 

May my horse have been reared in the Mâz,

And watered in the Biaz.

 

The Mâz is a district of the Hassasna, and the Biaz is the stream known

by the name of Foufet, that flows through their territory. The horses of

the Oulad-Khaled are also famous for the same qualities. In reference to

this tribe Sidi-Ahmed-Ben-Youssel has said: "The long locks and the long

_djellals_ will lie seen in the midst of you to the day of the

resurrection," thus eulogising their women and their horses.

 

8th. You say that people maintain against you that the horses of Algeria

are not Arabs but Barbs. It is a theory that turns against its own

authors, for the Barbs were originally Arabs. A well-known writer has

said: "The Berbers inhabit the Mogheb. They are all sons of

Kaïs-Ben-Ghilan. It is likewise stated that they spring from two great

Hemiarite tribes, the Senahdja and the Kettama, who came into the

country at the time of the invasion of Ifrikesh El Malik." According to

both these opinions, the Berbers are decidedly Arabs. Historians,

moreover, establish the descent of most of the Berber tribes from the

Senahdja and the Kettama. The arrival of these tribes was anterior to

Islam. Since the Mussulman invasion the number of Arabs who have

emigrated into the Mogheb is beyond computation. When the Obeïdin [the

Fatimites] were masters of Egypt, immense tribes passed into Africa,

among others the Riahh, and spread themselves from Kaïrouan to Merrakesh

[Morocco]. It is from these tribes that are descended the Algerian

tribes of the Douaouda, the Aïad, the Mâdid, the Oulad-Mahdi, the

Oulad-Iakoub-Zerara, the Djendel, the Attaf, the Hamïs, the Braze, the

Sbeha, the Flittas, the Medjahar, the Mehal, the Beni-Aâmer, the Hamian,

and many more. Without doubt the Arab horses were dispersed through the

Mogheb in like manner with the Arab families. At the time of

Ifrikesh-ben-Kaïf, the empire of the Arabs was all powerful. It extended

as far west as the confines of the Mogheb, just as in the time of Shamar

the Hemiarite it extended eastward to the frontiers of China, as it is

related by Ben-Kouteïba in his book entitled "El Marif."

 

It is quite true, however, that although the Algerian horses come of

Arab stock, many have degenerated from their nobleness from being

employed much too often in the plough, in carrying and drawing heavy

loads, and in other kinds of labour, and from other causes which did not

exist among the Arabs of the olden times. It is sufficient, they say,

for a horse to have walked over ploughed land to lose something of his

excellence, and by way of illustration they relate the following

anecdote:

 

"A man was riding one day, mounted on a thoroughbred, when he met his

enemy also mounted on a noble courser. The one turned and fled, while

the other gave chace. The latter was distanced, and despairing to

overtake the former, cried out to him:

 

"I demand of thee in the name of Allah, has thy horse ever been in the

plough?"

 

"He has ploughed for four days."

 

"Ah! mine has never been in the plough. By the head of the Prophet, I am

certain to overtake thee."

 

"He then followed up the pursuit and towards the end of the day the

pursued began to lose ground and the pursuer to gain upon him. At last

the latter succeeded in coming up with and combating him whom he had at

first despaired of overtaking."

 

"My father—Allah be merciful to him!—was in the habit of saying: 'There

was no blessing for our land since we converted our coursers into beasts

of burden and tillage. Did not Allah create the horse for riding, the ox

for the plough, and the camel for the transport of burdens? There is

nothing to be gained by changing the ways of Allah.'"

 

9th. You ask me further what is our practice with regard to the keep and

maintenance of our horses. Know that the master of a horse gives him

very little barley to begin with, and goes on increasing the quantity

little by little, until he fails to consume it all, when the quantity is

reduced and afterwards maintained at the exact measure of his appetite.

The best time of day for giving barley is the evening. Unless on a

journey, it is useless to give it in the morning. The best way is to

give it to the horse saddled and girthed, just as the best way of

watering him is with the bridle on. There is a saying.

 

Water with the bridle,

And barley with the saddle.

 

The Arabs greatly prefer a horse that eats little, provided he does not

lose strength. Such a one, say they, is a priceless treasure. To water a

horse at sunrise, makes him lose flesh. To water him in the evening,

puts him into good condition. To water him in the middle of the day,

keeps him as he is. During the great heats which last for forty days,

the Arabs water their horses only every second day: a custom, they

assert, attended with beneficial effects. In summer, autumn, and winter

they throw an armful of straw to their horses; but the substance of

their keep is barley, in preference to every other kind of food. They

say: "Had we not seen that horses come from horses, we should have said

that it is the barley that produces them." Again:

 

"Of forbidden flesh, choose the lightest," that is, choose a horse that

is light and nimble—horse-flesh being forbidden to Mussulmans.

 

"No one becomes a horseman until he has been often thrown."

 

"Thoroughbred horses have no vice."

 

"A horse in a leading-string is an honour to his master."

 

"Horses are birds without wings."

 

"No distance is far for a horse."

 

"Whoso forgets the beauty of horses for that of women will never

prosper."

 

"Horses know their riders."

 

The pious Ben-el-Abbas—Allah be good to him!—hath said:

 

Love horses and take care of them,

Spare no trouble;

By them comes honour, by them comes beauty.

If horses are forsaken of men,

I will receive them into my family,

I will share with them the bread of my children;

My wives clothe them with their veils,

And cover themselves with the horse-cloths;

I ride them every day

Over the field of adventures;

Carried away in their impetuous career

I combat the most valiant.

 

I have finished the letter which our brother and companion, the friend

of all men, the Commandant Sidi-Bou-Senna [Boissonnet], will cause to be

delivered into your hands. Peace!

 

 

 

 

THE WAR HORSE.

 

 

AN ARAB CHAUNT.

 

My steed is black as a night without moon or stars;

He was foaled in vast solitudes;

He is an air-drinker, son of an air-drinker.

His dam also was of noble race,

And our horsemen of the days of powder have surnamed him Sabok.[55]

The lightning flash itself cannot overtake him:

Allah save him from the evil eye!

 

His ears vie with those of the gazelle,

His eyes are the eyes of a woman with wiles,

His forehead resembles that of a bull,

His nostrils the cavern of a lion.

His neck, shoulders, and croup are long,

He is broad in the seat, in the limbs and flanks,

He has the tail of a viper, the thighs of an ostrich,

And his vigorous heels are lifted above the ground.

I reckon upon him as upon my own heart.

Never has mortal mounted his equal.

 

His flesh is firmer than that of the zebra;

He has the short gallop of the fox,

The easy and prolonged running of the wolf;

He accomplishes in one day a five days' march;

And when he stretches out at full speed,

he strikes the girts with his hocks.

You would say that it was a dart hurled by fate,