The best authority on the breeds used by the Arabs of Northern Africa is
probably General E. Daumas, who held high commands in Algeria and was
for a time the French Consul at Mascara. The Chasseurs d'Afrique are
mounted on Barbs, and thus the capabilities of these horses were of
practical importance to this officer; moreover, he took a very keen
personal interest in all matters relating to the horse, and spared no
endeavour to inform himself concerning the breed of the country in which
he resided. Hence the description in General Daumas' book, _The Horses
of the Sahara: with Commentaries by the Emir Abd El Kadr_ (1863) is
accepted as the standard on the Barb.
[2] The Barb, there is no possible doubt, is of pure Arab origin: in the
seventh century, when the Fatimite sect of Mohammedans held sway in
Egypt, numerous Arab tribes migrated to Africa and gradually spread over
the whole of the northern portion of the continent; the horses they
brought with them spread in like manner.
The letters of the famous Emir to General Daumas, containing categorical
replies to questions put by the latter, show that the Barbs possess
endurance in a very remarkable degree. Their average height is nowhere
mentioned in this work, but they are, as we believe, somewhat smaller
than the Arab in his native country and in India. There is a suggestive
hint of their small size in a remark by General Daumas: he says that
inexperienced horsemen with their spurs "sometimes prick the animal on
the knee-pan and so lame him if the wound be deep." Assuming that the
average height of the horseman be 5 feet 6 inches, and making due
allowance for the "straight-legged" seat of the cavalry man, the
General's remark points to a horse certainly not over 14 hands.
In answer to General Daumas' enquiry as to the amount of work a Barb can
do, the Emir replies:--
"A horse sound in every limb and eating as much barley as his
stomach can contain can do whatever his rider can ask of him.
For this reason the Arabs say, 'give barley and over-work him,'
but without tasking him over much a horse can be made to do
about sixteen _parasangs_ (equal to about fifty English miles)
a day, day after day. It is the distance from Mascara to
Koudiat Aghelizan on the Oued-Mina: it has been measured in
cubits. A horse performing this journey every day, and having
as much barley as it likes to eat, can go on without fatigue
for three or four months without lying by a single day."
The Arabs on their _razzias_, or cattle-stealing expeditions, of
necessity travel with as little encumbrance as possible: on such
expeditions, which may require twenty or twenty-five days' rapid travel,
each horseman carries only enough barley to give his mount eight feeds.
In some parts of the Sahara green food is never given; frequent watering
is recommended by all Arab horsemen.
An Arab of the Arbaa tribe gave General Daumas full particulars of a
ride he once undertook to save a highly prized mare from the hands of
the Turks. In twenty-four hours he rode her eighty leagues, and during
the journey she obtained nothing to eat but leaves of the dwarf palm,
and was watered once.
More directly bearing on our present enquiry are the particulars
furnished by Colonel Duringer of the weights carried in most of the
expeditions by the horses of the Chasseurs d'Afrique. These details were
ascertained by the Colonel at the moment of departure of a
column:--Horseman, 180 lbs.; equipment, 53 lbs.; pressed hay for five
days, 55 lbs.; barley for same period, 44 lbs. The man's own provisions
brought up the total burden to about 350 lbs. English = 25 stone! Daily
consumption of hay and grain would reduce this colossal burden
gradually; but the horse would never carry less than 16 stone 9 lbs. at
the end of his journey, starting with the load described.
As regards forced marches of comparatively short duration, Colonel
Duringer states that
"A good horse in the desert ought to accomplish for five or six
days, one after the other, distances of 25 to 30 leagues. After
a couple of days' rest, if well fed he will be quite fresh
enough to repeat the feat. It is no very rare occurrence to
hear of horses doing 50 or 60 leagues in twenty-four hours."