y compel them to do what they so much
deprecate--to sell their horse. A horse he may be tempted by a large
sum to part with, but to sell a mare is a heart-rending trial to an
Arab. "When the envoy," says Sir John Malcolm, "was encamped near
Bagdad, an Arab rode a bright bay mare, of extraordinary shape and
beauty, before his tent, until he attracted his attention. On being
asked if he would sell her, 'What will you give me?' was the reply.
'That depends upon her age; I suppose she is past five.' 'Guess again,'
said he. 'Four?' 'Look at her mouth,' said the Arab, with a smile. On
examination, she was found to be rising three. This, from her size and
symmetry, greatly enhanced her value. The envoy said, 'I will give you
fifty _tomans_,' (a coin nearly of the value of a pound sterling.)
'A little more, if you please,' said the fellow, a little entertained.
'Eighty--a hundred.' He shook his head and smiled. The officer at last
came to two hundred tomans. 'Well,' said the Arab, 'you need not tempt
me further. You are a rich _elchee_, (nobleman;) you have fine horses,
camels, and mules, and I am told you have loads of silver and gold.
Now,' added he, 'you want my mare; but you shall not have her for all
you have got.'"

Nor does the Arabian horse fail to repay the attachment of his master.
It not only flies with him over the desert, but, when he lies down to
sleep, the faithful animal will browse on such herbage as is near the
spot; will watch its master with solicitude; and, if a man or animal
approaches, will neigh loudly till he is awakened. "When I was at
Jerusalem," says Chateaubriand, "the feats of one of these steeds made
a great noise. The Bedouin to whom the animal, a mare, belonged, being
pursued by the governor's guards, rushed with him from the top of the
hills that overlooked Jericho. The mare scoured at full gallop down an
almost perpendicular declivity without stumbling, and left the soldiers
lost in admiration and astonishment. The poor creature, however,
dropped down dead on entering Jericho; and the Bedouin, who would not
quit her, was taken, weeping over the body of his faithful companion.
Ali Aga religiously showed me, in the mountains near Jericho, the
footsteps of the beast that died in the attempt to save her master!"

The powers of the horse, as evinced in certain cases, appear almost
incredible. At four o'clock in the morning, a gentleman was robbed at
Gadshill, on the west side of Chatham, England,