Let an Arabian be ever so poor he has horses; they usually ride upon the mares, experience having taught them that they bear fatigue, hunger, and thirst, better than horses; they are also less vicious, more gentle, and will remain left to themselves, in great numbers, for days together, without doing the least harm to each other. The Turks, on the contrary, do not like mares, and the Arabians sell them the horses which they do not keep for stallions. The Arabs have long preserved with great care the breed of their horses; they know their generations, alliances, and all their genealogies[B]. They distinguish their breeds into three classes; the first, which are of pure and ancient race on both sides, they call nobles; the second are of ancient race, but have been misallied; and the third kind are their common horses. The latter are sold at a low price; but those of the first class, and even of the second, among which some are as good as those of the first, are extremely dear. They never suffer the mares of the noble class to be covered except by stallions of the same quality. They are acquainted, from long experience, with the whole race of their own horses, and even with those of their neighbours, and know their names, surnames, colours, marks, &c. When they have no noble stallions of their own they borrow one of a neighbour to cover their mares, which is done in the presence of witnesses who give an attestation signed and sealed before the secretary of the Emir, or some other public person, in which the names of the mare and horse are written down, and their whole generation set forth. When the mare has foaled witnesses are again called, and another attestation is drawn up, which contains a description of the foal, with the day of its birth. These certificates enhance the value of their horses and are given to those who buy them. The price of a mare of the first class is from one to three hundred pounds sterling. As the Arabs have only tents for their houses, those tents serve them also for stables: the mare and her foal, husband, wife, and children, lie promiscuously together; the children will lie on the body and neck of the mare and foal without being incommoded or receiving the least injury; nay, the animals seem afraid to move for fear of hurting them. These mares are so accustomed to live in this familiarity that they will suffer any kind of play. The Arabs never beat their mares, but treat them kindly, talk and reason with them; they take great care of them, always letting them walk, and never use the spur without the greatest necessity; as soon, therefore, as they feel their rider's heel they set out with incredible swiftness, and leap hedges and ditches with as much agility as so many does. If their riders happen to fall, they are so well trained that they will stop short even in the most rapid gallop. All Arabian horses are of a middling size, very easy in their paces, and rather thin than fat. They