'hose animals that delight in watered meadows and luxuriant pastures, cannot be supposed to exist in per fection, where the prickly and stunted shrubs of the desert form their chief subsistence. From this circum stance, horned cattle are not common in Arabia ; the cow yields but little milk, and the flesh of the ox is juiceless and insipid. Their most valuable quadrupeds are the horse and the camel, who seem to be natives of Arabia. Here they are found in higher perfeCtion, and are more eminently distinguished by strength and beauty, than in any other country. Arabian horses are divided into two great classes ; the Kochlani, or noble breed, whose gen ealogy has been carefully preserved since the days of Solomon, are reserved solely for riding ; and the Kadishi, or common kind, whose descent is unknown, are em ployed for burden and ordinary labour. The purest breed of the Kochlani are reared by the Bedouins in the northen deserts. They are educated in the same tents with their masters, treated with the tender familiarity of children, and trained in the habits of gentleness and attachment. They arc accustomed only to walk and to gallop, are able to bear the greatest fatigues, and will pass whole days without food. These horses are neither large nor beautiful, but are particularly valuable for their docility and swiftness. Whenever they feel the touch of the hand or the heel, they dart away with the velocity of the wind ; if their rider be dismounted in the career, they instantly stop till he has recovered his seat ; or if he falls in battle, they remain by his side, and neigh for assistance. These steeds will sometimes bring from 1001. to 3001. The horses of the different provinces, however, have different qualifications. Those of Nedsjed are esteemed sure-footed ; those of Yemen, strong and serviceable ; and those of Hedjas, the most noble.
The camel, though less esteemed by the Arabians, is a more serviceable animal. He seems destined by nature to be an inhabitant of the desert. He is patient of thirst, and can perform a journey of several days, without either eating or drinking. His hoof is formed to tread on burning sands ; and the cartilaginous texture of his mouth enables him to feed upon the hard and prickly plants of these sandy regions. Alive or dead, almost every part of the camel is useful; their milk is copious and nourishing, and the flesh of the young, is tender, and tastes like veal. Their dung supplies the deficiency of fuel ; and their coarse hair, which is re newed every year, is manufactured by the women into garments and tents for the Bedouins. The dromedary of Arabia has only one bunch upon his back, and can scarcely be otherwise distinguished from the camel. It is, however, of a lighter and more active frame, and will outrun the fleetest of their steeds.
The ass appears also to be a native of this country ; one species of them, rivalling even the horse in beauty and spirit, is highly valued. They are more hardy, are content with the coarsest nourishment, eating even what the camel refuses, and are on that account better suited for travelling. The Arabians have also buffaloes, cows, and sheep. The cows have a bunch of fat upon the shoulder, which increases and diminishes as the animal grows fatter or leaner. The mountains of Arabia-Pe
trma abound with rock goats : and the plains are stocked with gazelles, a most beautiful animal, from which the Arabian poets draw many of their similitudes and allu sions. In the forest of Aden are monkies without tails, whose back parts are bare and red ; they are generally to be met with in troops of several hundreds. They are very docile, and are in great request among the jugglers, who teach them many surprising tricks. Of the carni vorous animals, the hyaena is the most formidable and hideous. This fierce and solitary animal prowls in quest of his prey only in the night ; and in that season when the inhabitants sleep in the open air, he will carry off children from the sides of their parents. They inhabit the caverns of the desert mountains of Arabia-Petrxa, and abound also on the shores of the Persian gulf. Jackals, panthers, wild boars, and wolves, are also to be found here ; and a species of wild dog called el vavi, is very common in Arabia.
The fertile provinces of Arabia abound with all kinds of poultry. Pheasants are very common in the forests of Yemen ; and the grey partridge inhabits the plains. The coasts of the Red Sea swarm with sea fowl ; where are also to be found the plover and the stork. The ostrich is an inhabitant of the desert ; and a beautiful lapwing, called Hudhud, is common on the shores of the Persian gulf. Their birds of prey are, the eagle, the vulture, the falcon, and the sparrow-hawk. A spe cies of the thrush is highly venerated in Arabia, on ac count of its important services in destroying the swarms of locusts which infest this country. It is thought to be a native of Korasan, and comes annually into Arabia in pursuit of these insects. Locusts travel in large bo dies ; when flying, they make a stunning noise, resem bling that of a water fall ; when at a distance, they ap pear like clouds of smoke ; at their approach the air is darkened ; and wherever a swarm alights, the fields are in a short time wasted and despoiled of their verdure. The Arabians are accustomed to eat these insects ; and certain species of them are esteemed a great delicacy.
Of the serpents in Arabia, which are numerous, the most formidable and venomous is that called Ratan, a small, slender creature, spotted black and white. Its bite produces instant death. Many of them however, are quite harmless ; and the bite of others occasions only a disagreeable itching, which is removed by applying to the wound the leaf of the caper tree. There is a curious species which the Arabs call the flying serpent, but for which the leaper would be a more appropriate name. By the elasticity of its tail, it can spring to a considera ble distance, and climbs trees by throwing itself from branch to branch. As a remedy, and also as a preven tative against the bite of these poisonous serpents, the Arabs use a decoction of the herb siristolochia semfter virens. In their opinion, whoever drinks this decoction for forty days, is for the future exempted from the power of these noxious animals ; and jugglers, fortified by this preservative, fearlessly expose themselves to their rage.