Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates Vol 2 - The Search For Mecca

cii. XXVIII.] Favourite Coioiws. -Dv>
grey, especially flea-bitten grey, is tlic commonest
Arabian colour. But this is not so anion o- the Anazch.
Bay is still more common, and white horses, though
fashionable in the desert, are rare. Our white Hamdaniyeh
mare, Sherifa, which came from Nejd, was
immensely admired among the Gomussa for the sake
of her colour almost as much as for her head, A\'hicli is
indeed of extraordinary beauty.
The drawing at thebeginning
of this chapter is her very faithful portrait.
Perhaps out of a hundred mares among the Anazeh
one would see thirty-five bay, thirty grey, fifteen
chestnut, and the rest brown or black. Eoans, piebalds,
duns, and yellows, are
not found among the
pure bred Arabians, though the last two occasionally
are among Barlxs. The bays often have black points
and generally a white foot, or two or three white
feet, and a snip or blaze down the face. The chestnuts
vary from the brightest to the dullest shades,
and I once saw a mottled brown. The tallest and
perhaps handsomest horse we saw Avas a Samhanel-Gomeaa,
a three-year-old
bay with black points,
standino' about fifteen hands one inch. He was a
little clumsy, however, in his action, though that
may have been the fault of his breaking. He had
bone enough to satisfy all
recjuirements, even those
of a Yorkshire man, but showed no sign of lacking
cjuality. AVith very few exceptions, all the handsomest
mares Ave saAv were bay, Avhich is without
doubt by far the best colour in Arabia as it is in
England. The chestnuts, as with us, are hot tem-