Arabia is generally claimed as the original native locality of the horse, and as the only source from which he is to be derived in the requisite perfection for the highest improvement of the race. But Strabo, who wrote more than 1,800 years ago, asserts that the horse did not then flourish in Arabia, and it was not till some centuries later that he attained any decided superiority there. Great attention, however, has been paid in that country, since the era of Mahomet, to breeding a light, agile, and enduring frame; intelligence and tractability of character; and the perpetuation of these qualities by the most scrupulous regard for the purity of blood. This is equally true of the Barb or pure-bred horse of Morocco, and those of the northern coast of Africa, in Egypt, among the Turks, and indeed wherever the followers of the Prophet are to be found. It is unquestionable, that the influence of the Eastern blood among the choicest animals of modern Europe, has been followed by great improvements in racing stock. Yet it is equally certain, that the race-horse, both of England and the United States, has accomplished what has never been demonstrated as within the ability of their progenitors; and on repeated trials with the Eastern horses, he has shown himself confessedly their superior in speed, strength, and endurance. In 1825, two English horses ran against the two fleetest Cossacks which could be found throughout the entire region of their best blood, and in a continued race of 47 miles, the European took the stakes; Sharper, the most successful, performing the distance in 2 hours and 48 minutes. About the same time, Recruit, an English horse of moderate reputation, easily beat Pyramus, the best Arabian on the Bengal side of India. The Leeds, the Darley, and the Godolphin Arabian; the Lister and D'Arcey's White Turk, and other noted Eastern horses, would not compare in performance with many of their descendants. But these, with some other choice Arabians, on the best mares, and with every advantage for obtaining celebrity, have succeeded in establishing a fame as just as it has been enduring. Yet it must at the same time be remembered, that of the innumerable other pure-bred horses which have been tried in Europe, a few only have rescued their names from oblivion.