DIET.

If in the Sahara ewe's or camel's milk is frequently given to horses, it must not be supposed that that is their only drink. It is more generally a substitute for barley, which is a scarce commodity, than for water, which is not usually difficult to find. The Arabs are convinced that milk maintains health and strengthens the fibre, without increasing the fat. It is needless to add that the rich who possess many she-camels are less sparing of milk than the poor, who have hardly enough to satisfy the wants of their families. The latter dilute it with water when they can. In the spring time they make use of ewe's milk, to which at other seasons they add camel's milk.

At Souf, Tougourt, Ouargla, Metlili, Gueleâa, and in the Touat, where there are more camels than horses and where grain is scarcer than in the first zone of the desert, dates oftentimes take the place of barley. When they are dry they are given in a nosebag. In eating them the horse, of himself, rejects the stones with considerable address. In certain districts the stones are taken out and crushed in a mortar, and are then mixedwith the dates, which are likewise slightly bruised. Dates are also given to horses before they are perfectly ripe, and are eaten stones and all—being quite soft they do no harm. When it is desired to mix the dates with the drink, the Arabs proceed after this fashion. After the fruit is gathered they take three or four pounds of fresh dates, and manipulate them in a large vase full of water until the pulp of the date has become a sort of liquid paste. The skins and stones are removed and the mixture after being well shaken is presented to the animal. The date regimen makes fat, but does not harden the fibre.

In the first zone of the Sahara the ordinary diet of the horse is as follows for each season:—In the spring the shoes are generally removed, and the animals are turned out on the pastures, which at that period of the year abound with a succulent and fragrant herbage known under the generic name ofel âacheub. They are clogged. Care is taken to avoid the districts where theledenais met with, a velvety plant the leaves of which resemble a rat's ear. It grows close to the ground and is usually covered up and hidden in the sand. It brings on colics that for the most part terminate fatally. Persons of distinction who keep many servants, and experienced horsemen, never give green food to their war horses. Rich or poor, no one gives barley, which is replaced by ewe's milk, which in this season is very abundant, and preserves the horse in perfect condition. The animals are watered only once a day, at two in the afternoon.

In summer the Saharenes proceed to the Tell to lay in their provision of grain. They are surrounded byunfriendly strangers, and sometimes by enemies. They do not, therefore, care to send their horses out to graze, as they would run the risk of being stolen. Nor are they sorry to have them close at hand in case of any of the numerous accidents happening which so often occur. Barley and barley straw are purchased from their hosts: it is the period of the year when the animals fare most liberally. I mention barley straw, because no Arab would ever consent to feed his horses on fresh wheaten straw. They fancy it produces jaundice if used before the winter. If, perchance, any thing should prevent them from going to buy grain in the Tell, as the plains afford no herbage but what is dried up by the sun, they make for the mountains of the Sahara, where there is a better chance of coming across rivers, or ponds, or at least marshes. If this resource fails them, they encamp in the neighbourhood of theKuesours[43]where straw can be had for money or in the way of barter. In either case the mares alone are sent out to graze, the horses being fastened in front of the tents. Whatever be the temperature, the Arabs never give their horses that mixture of bran, barley meal, and water which we call a mash, and of which we make such a mistaken use. They accuse it of relaxing the tissues and of weakening the system, while favouring the growth of fat, an evil they dread above all things. When their horses are over heated they lessen their work, and if they can procure it they give them green barley straw, and if that is not to be had they have recourse to cooling baths. As to the barley, they like it heavy, without any bad smell, and free from the dirt which gets mixed with it in the "silos,"as well as from the black, withered, and blighted grains which have been struck by the South wind.

In autumn the horses are again turned out into the pastures, where they find theshiehh, that invaluable resource of the Sahara, so that it is said in praise of a man who is as capable as he is modest:

So-and-so is like the shiehh:He has parts, but is no prattler.

So-and-so is like the shiehh:

He has parts, but is no prattler.

So much for the day. At night are given handfuls ofseurr, a species of thorny shrub. It is cut down close to the ground, and beaten with a stick to get rid of the dry prickles, which might injure the œsophagus, or the membranous lining of the stomach. It contains many nutritive elements. Another plant somewhat resembling the common bramble and calledel âdemis prepared in a similar manner.

The horse is watered only once in the twenty-four hours, about two in the afternoon. That time is thought the most favourable because the water will have lost something of its coldness,—the temperature then falling every day. Those who are well off give barley, but the poor cannot always do so.

In winter the horses continue to be sent to the pastures, which are now verdant in proportion to the rain that has fallen. Theshiehh, theâdem, thederine,[44]etc., are met with, and afford a very sufficient diet. At nightbouseis thrown to them in quantities. It is called by the Arabs "brother of the barley," so highly do they appreciateits nutritive properties.Bouseis in fact, nothing else than thealfa,[45]which, at the moment of forming its ear, having been pulled by its upper part has come away and got separated from its sheath. Being gathered into small sheaves it is cut up in pieces and answers the purpose of chopped straw. Thealfais turned to account in yet another manner. Its roots are laid bare with a mattock and being freed from their reddish coating, are eaten with avidity by the animal. This article of food takes the name ofgueddeineorzemouna, according to the locality. It is nutritious, but not a substitute for barley. Hay is unknown in the desert. The Arabs might, if they chose, lay up an abundant supply of it for the winter, but they reject it as having a tendency to make a horse heavy, to soften the fibre, and in the long run to occasion inflammatory disorders. The animals are watered only once a day as in autumn. It is a proverbial saying with the Arabs that "The food of the morning goes out into the draught, while that of the evening passes into the croup." They affirm, therefore, that if the horse has drunk sufficient over night, and eaten heartily through the night, there is not the slightest inconvenience in not giving him anything on the morrow, especially if he has to set out early in the morning. Thus in our camps, with fifteen to eighteen hundred Arab horsemen making part of the expedition, what did we witness? Every officer of the old African army can vouch for the truth of what I am about to say:

Contrary to our habits, to the very last moment the most perfect tranquillity continued to reign in the Arab bivouac. Not a minute was taken from the rest of the animal. They gave him nothing either to eat or to drink. The instant before starting they rubbed him down with a nose-bag. The saddle replaced the covering worn through the night. The bridle was put on, the tents struck, the morning prayer offered up, and at the hour named they were on the march. More than once I have happened to testify my surprise at such a system, but always received the same reply: "Why wouldst thou do for thy horse what thou wouldst not do for thyself? If thou leavest the table at ten or eleven at night, canst thou sit down again to it on the morrow at the dawn of day?" With this regimen the animals remain thin and slender. They are always ready to march or gallop, or do whatever hard work may be required of them. They pick up in an astonishing manner when instead, of a few handfuls of barley and what they can graze off plains parched by a burning sun, they fall in with the produce of the Tell. How would it be, then, if they were placed on the diet of European horses? Instead of their flesh being firm they would get quite fat, and so gain in our estimation, but they would lose in that of the Arabs, who little appreciate that style of beauty generally acquired at the cost of the best qualities of a war horse.

However, if the Arab is too genuine a horseman not to attach the greatest importance to vigour, he is on the other hand too fond of pomp and distinction and thefantasia—to use a word already popular in Europe—not to bestow upon himself, when he can, the luxury of a horse for show and parade. It is therefore no rarething to see Arabs of high position leave their favourite mares for three or four months fastened in front of their tents, without putting them to any work. They thus get into good condition, and are employed only at festivals and marriage feasts and on occasions when the chiefs are particularly anxious to distinguish themselves. For the chace, for razzias, and for long and arduous journeys, they keep horses of less apparent value, but of which they are sure, and do not fear to fatigue them. The mares to which we have alluded are equipped with great ostentation. Thestara, or cloths, and the bridles are embroidered with pure gold, the stirrups are plated or gilt, and the felt saddle-cloths are as fine as cloth; the most esteemed coming from Ouareglâa.

REMARKS OF THE EMIR ABD-EL-KADER.

One of the Prophet's companions as he went out one morning found him wiping with his cloak the head of his horse. "Why, with thy cloak?" "What know'st thou?" replied the Prophet. "It may be that the Angel Gabriel has been angry with me on his account last night." "At least let me give him his food." "Ah!" cried the Prophet, "Thou would'st take for thyself all the rewards, for the Angel Gabriel has told me that every grain of barley eaten by the horse is accounted to me for a good work."

The Saharene gives his horse camel's milk to drink which has the particular property of imparting speed, so that a man—according to what is said by reliablepersons who guarantee the truth of the statement—if he takes nothing else for a sufficient time, will attain to such a degree of swiftness that he may vie with the camels themselves. In fact, camel's milk strengthens the brain and the tendons, and does away with fat, which produces a relaxation of the muscles.

In some parts of the Sahara the chiefs and horsemen of renown never give green food to their war horses. Milk, barley, and the plants known by the names ofshiehh,derine,bouse, andseulianeform their sole keep. This diet does not enlarge the belly or fatten like green food, which distends the intestinal canal, partly because of the enormous quantity consumed by the animal before he is satisfied, and partly because of the water it contains.

In summer the horses are not watered until three o'clock in the afternoon. In winter they are watered rather earlier—from noon to one. It is the time of day when in the open air the water has lost much of its coldness. These principles are expressed in the following proverb, known to the meanest horseman of the desert:—

In the hot season[46]put back the hour of the watering-placeAnd put forward that of the nose-bag;In the cold season put forward the hour of the watering-place,And put back that of the nose-bag.

In the hot season[46]put back the hour of the watering-place

And put forward that of the nose-bag;

In the cold season put forward the hour of the watering-place,

And put back that of the nose-bag.

Among the desert tribes, for forty days counting from the month of August, the horses are watered only every other day. The same method is pursued during the last twenty days of December and the first twenty days ofJanuary. In cold weather the rich let their horses have as much barley as they can eat, but decrease the ration considerably in hot weather. Milk andbousemay be substituted for barley. It is seldom that any thing to eat is given in the morning. The horse marches upon the food of the previous evening, and not on that of the same day.

Looking at two horses, one from the Tell and the other from the Sahara, a man who has not studied the subject will always prefer the former, which he will find handsome, heavy, sleek, and fat, while he will despise the second, fool that he is, and abuse the very points which constitute his worth—that is, the fine, dry extremities, the tightened belly, and the bare ribs. And yet this horse of the desert that has never been accustomed to barley, green food, or straw, but onlyshiehh,bouse, andseuliane, that has never had any thing but milk to drink and from his earliest years has served at the chace and in war, will have the swiftness of the gazelle and the patience of the dog, while the other will never be any thing but an ox by his side.

The greatest enemies of the horse are repose and fat.

Back to Index Next