, the merciful! The cause of the present writing is, that we witness
that the grey horse Derrish, of Mahomet Bey, is of the first breed of
Nedgdee horses, whose mother is the grey mare, Hadha the famous, and
whose father is the bay horse, Dabrouge, of the horses of the tribe
Benihaled. We testify on our conscience and fortune, that he is the
breed concerning which the prophet said, 'the true runners, when they
run, strike fire; they grant prosperity until the day of judgment.' We
have testified what is known, and God knows who are true witnesses." Six
signatures verified this pedigree.

I had marked out a selection of quotations as proofs of the high
qualities of the noble horse; but I must now be as brief as possible,
and not profit too much by the interesting labours of others. I
therefore continue my own observations. When staying on the borders of
the river Gambia, I saw two of the native horses which belonged to the
stud of the Commandant there; they had been brought from the interior,
and taken from a wild herd; but they were totally unlike the races
hitherto described. The mare, of a reddish brown, had been some time
domesticated, and was docile and well behaved; neither of them
possessing sufficient character to be referred to the Barb, the
Dongola, or the Nubian breeds. They were undersized, and not handsome;
the male, who had not been long from his native forests, was the best
looking; carried his head well, was strongly and compactly made,
especially about the shoulders, and there was much fire about the head,
which, however, was far from handsome; his legs were slender and
well-shaped. The peculiar circumstances in which I was placed, rendered
it necessary that I should, for the sake of health, take horse-exercise.
There was nothing which could carry me except this little grey horse;
for I could not persuade those around me to let me mount Cora, because
they said she had so hard a mouth: so a side-saddle was put on, and a
man with a skirt tried the grey once or twice; he was tolerably quiet,
and without much disturbance, he went pretty well for a few weeks; the
only trouble being to get upon his back. He, however, had one great
peculiarity, which manifested itself rather awkwardly, when a party of
us started to go to a distance. He could not endure strangers, and would
not suffer any of his own kind to approach him who did not live in the
same stable as himself. This was great affectation in a horse just wild