r, being unavailing to ride him deeper in, he fell to washing him
strenuously with his hands, then leading him out, he dressed himself and
returned by the way he came.

“Good are the horses of the Moslems,” said my old friend; “where will you
find such?  They will descend rocky mountains at full speed and neither
trip nor fall; but you must be cautious with the horses of the Moslems,
and treat them with kindness, for the horses of the Moslems are proud,
and they like not being slaves.  When they are young and first mounted,
jerk not their mouths with your bit, for be sure if you do they will kill
you; sooner or later, you will perish beneath their feet.  Good are our
horses, and good our riders, yea, very good are the Moslems at mounting
the horse; who are like them?  I once saw a Frank rider compete with a
Moslem on this beach, and at first the Frank rider had it all his own
way, and he passed the Moslem, but the course was long, very long, and
the horse of the Frank rider, which was a Frank also, panted; but the
horse of the Moslem panted not, for he was a Moslem also, and the Moslem
rider at last gave a cry and the horse sprang forward and he overtook the
Frank horse, and then the Moslem rider stood up in his saddle.  How did
he stand?  Truly he stood on his head, and these eyes saw him; he stood
on his head in the saddle as he passed the Frank rider; and he cried ha!
ha! as he passed the Frank rider; and the Moslem horse cried ha! ha! as
he passed the Frank breed, and the Frank lost by a far distance.  Good
are the Franks; good their horses; but better are the Moslems, and better
are the horses of the Moslems.”

We now directed our steps towards the town, but not by the path we came:
turning to the left under the hill of the _mearrah_, and along the
strand, we soon came to a rudely-paved way with a steep ascent, which
wound beneath the wall of the town to a gate, before which, on one side,
were various little pits like graves, filled with water or lime.  “This
is Dar-dwag,” said the _mahasni_; “