p e p p e r ; th e y g iv e this to the horse in a fluid State, that it may be the more easily swa llowed ; th e y then let him remain the whole day fasting, g iv in g him in the evening only h a lf o f his accustomed quantity o f b a r le y ; they next keep them without riding seven d a y s : this process is said to secure the horse against disorders, and qu ick ly takes off the prominent be lly common after grass, disposing the flesh to the flanks. T o the various colours o f horses they attach various properties ; the y assert, that a dark-coloured o r black horse is in his fullest v ig ou r towards dark, or n ight; that the powers o f a chesnut horse come with the rising sun, and he is not so fleet in the e v en in g ; to a white horse they attribute vigilance ; and o f 3 gray the y signify the soundness o f their feet, by an Arabian adage,* which indicates that i f a cavalcade be passing through a stony country, the gray horses w ill break the stones with their f e e t ; this opinion appears founded on experience, for in the A tla s mountains, in some parts o f Suse, and in all harsh stony d istricts, we find a much greater proportion o f gray horses than o f any other c o lo u r ; their feet are so hardy, that I have known them to travel two days jo u rn e y through the stony defiles o f A tla s without shoes, ove r roads fu ll o f loose broken stones, and basaltic rocks. Besides horses, mules and asses abound eve ry where .in Barbary, also camels, and horned cattle. In the Atlas, and in the forests near Mequinas, there are lions, panthers, wild hogs, hyaenas, apes, jackals, foxes, hares, serpents, lizards, camelions,&c. T h e birds are, ostriches, pelicans, eagles, flamingoes, storks, herons, bustards, wild geese, wood pigeons, pigeons, turtle- * Ida dez el Herka fee el bled wa kan trek harushe el Zirg ce herse el bager eladi fee’ll. doves, ring-doves, partridges, red ducks, wild ducks, plovers, tibibs,* larks, nightingales, bla ck birds, starlings, and various others. The same varieties o f fish that are found in the Mediterranean are taken on the shores o f West B a rb a ry ; mullet, red and gray, brim, anchovies, sardines, herrings, mackarel, rock cod, skaite, soles, plaice, turbot, turtles, besides fish peculiar to the coast, called b y the Shelluhs, A za lim z i, Tasargalt, and Irgal, which are v e ry abundant, p a r ticu lar ly in the b a y o f A gadee r, and on the coast o fW ed in o o n ; they are prepared in the ovens o f Aguram, a town at the foot o f the mountain whereon Agadee r stands, for the purpose o f being conveyed to the interior, to Bled-el-jerr^de, and Sahara; these fish form a considerable article o f commerce, and are much esteemed in Bled-eljerr^ de. As there is no country in the world so little explored as Africa, nor any that produces such a va rie ty o f animals, a few observations on some o f the most remarkable may not be uninteresting. QUADRUPEDS. The Thaleb.— T h e animal called tha leb t is the red fox ; it emits the same strong scent as the fox o f Europe, and is found in all parts o f the country ; but is far from being so common as the deeb, which some have compared to the jackal, others to the brown fox. It is certain, that the deeb emits no offensive * A small bird unknown in Europe, similar to a sparrow. t Baffon informs us, that Bruce told him this animal was common in Barbary, where it was called Taleb ; but Pennant observes, that Bruce should have giver, it a more characteristic appellation, for taleb, or thaleb, is no more than the Arabic name for the common fox, which is also frequent in that eountry. See Eng. Encyclopedia, ISOS.
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