162

BATHS AND MENAGERIE.

formed of marble, and adorned with sculptured figures of crocodiles. The kiosks are small but handsome buildings, containing dressing-rooms, with divans, &c. where the Pasha and his family take coffee after bathing, and sometimes sup. The effect of the whole upon the eye at night, when the baths are filled with water, and the apartments and colonnades brilliantly lighted up with gas, must no doubt be fine; but by day, when closely examined, the whole has an air of shabbiness and decay, the stones of the pavement are loose, the entablatures in many places broken, the rooms dirty, the doors out of repair. In fact, the whole affair, it is quite evident, was got up by the Pasha rather to dazzle the Turks than to suit his own tastes, which are exceedingly plain; and he has now grown tired of the toy.

XCVIII. In the gardens, his Highness has a second menagerie, a few English deer, a kangaroo, and four giraffes, fine beautiful animals, three of which died of cold during the winter; the fourth, when its life was despaired of, was given to an English gentleman, resident at Cairo, by whom it was sent as a present to some menagerie in London. The Pasha has likewise a stud here, for the following remarks on which I am indebted to Monro, who visited the place with me. There were a great many horses in open places ranged round a yard, like bullock sheds in England. Several of them were milk-white. The grooms pretended they were all Nejdis; but this was not true, as some few were from Dóngola. There

were, however, many genuine Nejdis. Amongst others I remarked a small dark chestnut horse, of the true blood, as his points would testify. He had a fine snake head, with an expanding and projecting nostril; but, contrary to English ideas of perfection, a remarkably small pointed ear. His forehead was wide, with an eye expressive of boldness, generosity, and alacrity. His shoulder was thick through, and finely laid back his ribs and loins were round and deep; his legs short and very powerful, the hoof being rather donkey formed, with an open heel; and, from his muscular thighs and longish drooping pasterns, there is no doubt he would be elastic, speedy, and lasting. The groom said he was worth some hundred thousand paras, but as I did not turn it into guineas at the time, I have no idea of the sum. There were several other Nejdis, partaking more or less of the same formation as the one above described. no flesh, had very rough coats, and much of the Hungarian cavalry horse; but the latter I saw in good condition. The Nejdi, however, is higher than the Hungarian, but looks small only from his fine proportions. The tallest horse I have seen of this breed was fifteen hands one inch; but they are generally two or three inches under this. In walking through the caravan encampment, about to leave Cairo for Mekka, we were admiring a finely formed horse, when his owner pointed out another, which he valued more highly. He was feeding out of a bag, so that the lower part of his head was not visible; but he was smaller than the other, and remarkably

They carried reminded me

164

THE DONGOLA HORSE.

short and thick in all his proportions. He had what dog amateurs call "a coarse stern," his tail being entirely out of place, and his hind quarters cut off short like those of a camel. The Arab spoke much of his great speed, and said he was a Nejdi of the famous Hassan breed. He was surprised at our preferring the other. They were both chestnut.

black, with long

He has a coarse of condition, grows There is altogether

A certain French

XCIX. The Dóngola horse is white legs, and upright pasterns. Cleveland head, and, when out flat-sided and scanty in the loin. a soft useless look about him. writer has stated that these horses are highly prized by the young gentlemen of Alexandria, who mount these long-legged nags for an hour or two in the morning, before they mount their long-legged stools; but as their judgment may possibly not have been matured upon the Hambledon Hills, it is not to be blindly adopted. It has been said that these horses are very perfect in Dóngola, but that they degenerate when exposed to a colder climate. It may easily be believed that from such a cause a horse may lose his condition, and, apparently, his substance; but that his bone should waste, that his legs should grow longer, and his ribs shorter, seems to be incredible. It is likely that those in the Pasha's stables were some of the best specimens to be found.

C. The method in use among the Arabs, both of the cultivated country and the desert, for securing their horses, whether in the stable, the field, or the

PICKETING HORSES.

165

camp, seems highly injurious. Each fore leg is fastened to the corresponding one behind by a rope, so short, that the former are drawn considerably under the body, both when the horse is feeding and when at rest. In the field, two other ropes passing from his forelegs at right angles with his body, are pegged down at some distance on either side, and thus he is left to feed as far as he can before him. In the stable, besides the short ropes fettering his legs, the horse's head is tied by two ropes to the ceiling, and by two others to the earth, two ropes at right angles from his fore legs being fastened either to posts or to the wall, while his hind legs are tied either to the back wall, or to a strong rope, which passes along the ground behind the horses for that purpose. There may appear to be reason for putting some of these restraints upon horses placed near together without any partition to prevent their maiming each other; but it will scarcely be believed that I have seen a single horse, in a loose box, confined in the same manner, and this, not because he was vicious, but because it was customary. The practice of fastening the fore legs, and thus continually forcing them back under the body, must confine the natural freedom of action which a horse ought to possess; and, as it is applied to colts when very young, it seems not impossible that it may even displace the shoulder from the natural position which it would otherwise take. This appears to me to be the most rational way of accounting for the fact that the greater number of horses in Egypt have broken knees.

166

DESCRIPTION OF A KANDJIA.

CHAPTER VIII.

DESCRIPTION OF A KANDJIA- DEPARTURE FROM BOOLAK - FIRST NIGHT ON THE NILE-THE MOSQUITOES LOSS OF CHILDREN AMONG THE ARABS ANECDOTE OF MY INTERPRETER- APPEARANCE OF THE ARABIAN MOUNTAINS QUARRIES OF EL MASSARA-STORMS ON THE RIVER- LEGEND OF THE SIKSAK — SIMPLICITY OF THE ARABS -FORMS OF THE WOMEN-SINGULAR CUSTOM MENTIONED BY HERODOTUS ANECDOTE THE EVIL EYE EFFECTS OF THE INUNDATION-VAST FLIGHTS OF PELICANS NILE ROBBERS ATHORBAKI ISLANDS IN THE NILE THE FALSE PYRAMID GOOD-HUMOUR OF THE ARABS -IKSOOR RECRUITING OF THE PASHA'S ARMIES-OPPRESSION -EXTRAORDINARY PRINTED ORDER OF THE PASHA REMARKS ON HIS CONDUCT-THE JACKALS.

Monday, Dec. 10. On the Nile. CI. HAVING hired a kandjia, a dragoman, &c., and made all other necessary preparations, I this day set sail, about twelve o'clock, from the port of Boolak. A kandjia is a decked boat, with two masts and two triangular sails, of which the foremost is much smaller than the other. There are two cabins upon deck: one about six feet in length, in which you live; the other, much shorter, for containing your provisions. Several small windows, with sliding shutters, but without glass, afford you a prospect of the river and country on both sides, and let in the cool air. Your servant sleeps in a small tent of mats before your door. The boatmen, with their captain, occupy the fore part of the kandjia, where they sit, cook their