Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/262

242 ARABIA [ANIMALS. the real guidance of the animal being almost wholly effected by the pressure of the rider s leg and knee. Shoes, too, are of rare occurrence, nor are they needed in the light and sand-mixed soil of the central provinces ; on the other hand, the hoofs are often nibbed with grease, to counteract the drying effects of the heated ground. Of all niceties of grooming, docking and clipping excepted, Arabs are masters ; and their natural kindness to animals, a quality which they share with most Orientals, together with the care which every reasonable man bestows on a valuable article of property, ensures to an Arab horse a good treatment at the hands of his owner. But Arab horses do not commonly enter tents, nor play with women and children, nor, in a general way, do they share family meals, nor are they habitually kissed and cried over, as the imagination or credulity of some narrators has suggested. An Arab, flying for his life, has indeed been known to give the only morsel of dry bread about him to his horse rather than eat it himself, an act in which self-preserva tion had probably as large a share as affection. Lastly, the standing prohibition of horse-selling from Nejd has really nothing more romantic in it than a narrow-minded appli cation of the principles of protective monopoly ; in other cases, reluctance to conclude a bargain simply indicates that the offer made was considered insufficient. The camel. Below the horse in popular estimation and market value, but far above him in general utility so far as Arabia is concerned, comes that eminently Arab animal the camel. Of this there are many varieties : the best, swiftest, slimmest in form, and most docile to guidance, is the " hejeen," or dromedary, sometimes also called " delool," or " facile." It is almost exclusively employed for riding, whereas the " ibl," or ordinary camel, readily distinguished from the other by a coarser build, a slower pace, and a less tractable disposition, is a beast of burden, and indeed is employed for all purposes. This species is very commonly, too, kept and reared for the sake of its flesh and milk, precisely as horned cattle are elsewhere ; in fact, boiled camel s meat is the most ordinary article of animal food throughout the peninsula, it is a flabby, tasteless dish, not unlike the poorest sort of beef ; any flavour that it may possess is musky and disagreeable. The milk, on the contrary, is excellent, eqiial in quality and in sanitary properties to that of the she-ass, but neither butter nor cheese are made from it. The wool, which in the camels of ISTejd and Oman is remarkably soft and fine, serves for making articles of dress, into which it is woven, sometimes alone, sometimes mixed with wool ; it is much superior to sheep s wool in every respect. The ordinary colour of the animal in the northern Arab provinces is a reddish brown, but in Nejd and throughout the south, lighter tints, varying from grey to white, are more common ; black is extremely rare, and highly esteemed. The least valuable breeds are those of the north and west, that is, those of the Jowf, of Shomer, of the Hejaz, and of Yemen ; in ISTejd, which region, from the number of its herds, is sometimes called " Omm-el-Ibl," or " the Mother of Camels," the species improves; but all agree in assigning the palm to the dromedaries of Oman. In fine, all over Arabia, whether among the Bedouins or the villagers, camels are the prin cipal staple of traffic, the favourite investment of wealth, and the ordinary standard of property. Qualities of Camel or dromedary, the Arabian animal has only one the camel, J^mnp^ which increases or diminishes in size according to the general good or bad condition of the beast. On this hump the saddle called, if a riding one, " ghabeet;" if one for baggage, " shedad " is placed ; a halter is the only rein employed, though even this is more commonly dispensed with by the Arabs, who simply direct the animal by a kick of the heel or a blow about the neck with the " mihjan," a small crooked stick carried in the riders hand. The average travelling pace, an amble, is between five and six miles an hour, and this a good dromedary will continue for fifteen hours out of the twenty-four during a week together. Six days in the summer, ten in the winter, form the longest period that the dromedary can continue his pace without a fresh supply of water ; and hence an " ashavee " or " tenner " is the title given to the best of the kind. Two hundredweight is the average load of the Arab carrying camel. No animal puts its owner to less expense for its keep : the thorns of the desert, dry grass, cactuses, euphorbias, nothing comes amiss to a camel s appetite ; a ball of paste weighing about a pound, and made of barley-meal and water, is given every evening when extra work has to be done. The average duration of a camel s life is thirty years, that of the dromedary somewhat less ; the price of either varies from about 4 to 80, according to quality, those of Oman commanding the best market. But although the camel, whether as an article of use or of sale, is far more important to Arabia than the horse, it is in intelligence and docility immeasurably inferior to the latter animal, never becoming attached to, or even, seemingly at least, acquainted with its owner; and never obeying except perforce and under protest. Next to camels, sheep and goats form an important item Sheep. of Arab wealth. The best sheep are the piebald and large- tailed ones of Yemen ; those of Nejd, too, are in great request on account of their flesh, which is excellent, though their wool is confessedly less fine in quality. Some districts of Oman produce a silky-haired breed not unlike that of Angorah. The least esteemed sheep are those of Hejaz and the north ; but, in compensation, the goats of these provinces are longer-haired and generally better than those of the south ; they are black, with long drooping ears. Spring is the shearing season in Nejcl, but the wool is seldom exported, being mostly bought up for local use. From the milk of these animals butter and a white insipid kind of cheese are made : both are articles of daily con sumption in Arab households. Cattle are reared throughout Arabia, but owing to the Cattle. prevailing deficiency of deep and succulent pasturage their number is not so considerable as that of the camel. Cows and oxen, throughout Nejd, Oman, and Yemen, bear on their shoulders a hump analogous to the well-known one of the so-called " Brahminee " bull ; the ordinary colour is dun ; their legs are slender, the horns short, and the whole stature diminutive. The kine of the northern provinces are stouter and yield more milk ; they have no hump. Buffaloes also are kept in the marshy districts that occur in Yemen and Oman. They differ in no respect from the Indian breed ; but, unlike oxen, these animals cannot be reckoned in the ordinary list of Arab farm stock, as they exist only under exceptional circumstances, whereas a few kine may be found in almost every village, and the irrigation of the fields and gardens is mostly done by means of oxen. Like the horse, the ass attains its greatest excellence in Asses. Arabia, where it is more often employed for riding than for loads ; indeed, in some provinces, especially in Hasa, it is the usual mount even of the wealthy. The best species is that reared in Hasa and eastern ISTejd, where these animals are generally of the purest white in colour, and stand from eleven to thirteen hands high. In pace they scarcely yield to an average horse. They are often exported and sold at high prices in Egypt or at Con stantinople, a single animal fetching from 40 to 80. They are ridden in Arabia Avith side-saddles. Good asses

are to be found also in the other districts of Nejd, in