Page 90 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW - ISSUE 13

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 9 0

The study of Arabian horses, ... , seemed to me to have to be the conclusion of my earlier
work. So far, it has been full of uncertainties and contradictory information.

According to one, the Arabs are the first horsemen in the world, according to the other, only
horseflayers. ...

Which of these is true? ...

I wanted to know this, not from hearsay, but through my own eyes, not from books, but from

people themselves. ...”

Daumas thus notes that little is known of both the Arab people and their horses, which is
why he wishes to contribute to their study and research.

Daumas thus strives for facts, also reports descriptions he received in order to bring

possible core truths in improbable-sounding statements to the attention of posterity.
Therefore, Daumas is to be rated as a source of the very first quality. His scepticism
towards books is also remarkable. Possibly he was aware that ancient authors liked to
copy from each other, although the authors must have been aware that an observation of
their own deviated from this ancient, earlier statement. For example, we still find
statements in Ibn Mangli that go back to Xenophon. There are special scientific studies

on this, but we will not go into them here.

On the subject of calling the inhabitants of Algeria “Arabs”, Abd El-Kader replies to him:
“You tell me that people claim to you that the horses of Algiers are not Arabian, but Berber
horses. ...
This is a view that falls back on those from whom it emanates. The Berbers are originally

Arabs. ... It is also asserted that they are descended from the two great Hemiarite tribes, the
Senahdja and Kettama, who came into the country at the time of the invasion of Ifrikech-el-
Malik.

According to these two views, the Berbers are certainly Arabs. ... ” (Daumas, in: The Horses of
the Sahara, p.199).