Then the second who followed close at hand;—they both reached the goal without slackening their speed. Every horse of noble race fascinates the eyes and rivets the gaze of the enthusiastic spectator. One of a rose colour, whose coat resembles the red tints which the setting sun leaves on the horizon. Another of a white colour, like to a shooting star hurled against the evil genii. A third, a blood-bay, of incomparable beauty and tall stature, in whom may be recognized traces of his paternal and maternal uncles, famous in the annals of racing. There may also be seen a bright bay with a skin like gold. And then a chestnut that pleases the eye with its shining mane. Or another, black as night, adorned only with a white star on the forehead, that shines like the first light of dawn. Oh! blessed is the horse with white stars and stockings! The Prophet abhorred a horse that has white marks on all its legs. The horse with a white mark that does not come down to the tip of the upper lip, accompanied by a stocking on the off forefoot, bears upon him the signs of the most evil omen. Thus, whosoever sees him prays to Allah to avert from himself the calamity announced by this animal. He is like the "hour poison."[50] The fleetest of horses is the chestnut; the most enduring, the bay; the most spirited, the black; the most blessed, one with a white forehead. The Arabs distinguish forty knots or tufts in a horse. Of these, twenty eight are without any significance in their eyes, and are of neither good nor bad omen. To twelve of them alone do they ascribe an influence allowed by tradition and confirmed, as they think, by personal observation. "Horses are eagles mounted by riders tall as a lance; they arrive, cleaving the air like a falcon swooping on its quarry." ON CHOOSING AND PURCHASING HORSES. In the Sahara horses that are celebrated for their blood and speed sell easily and at a good price. There are blemishes that totally exclude a horse from serving in war. Such as _el maateuk_, a narrow and hollow chest accompanying lean and perpendicular shoulders. It is difficult to form an idea of the importance attached by the Arabs to the development of the muscles of the chest.