Horsemanship on the Edge of the Desert.

Bush Advocate, Volume XI, Issue 869, 9 December 1893, Page 6

Horsemanship on the Edge of the Desert.

One of the groat events of the year in Algeria, in mattem equine, is the races at Biakra, on the edge of the desert, or in more properly what one might oall the first oasis* One can scarcely compare the Biskra races to our own, but they bring out some rather • fine Bpeoimena ot horses, and have some curious features. Among these are camel races, at which some of the best running" camels compete, not at long distances, whioh is their great power, but at short ones for speed. The running camel is to the porter • camel aB the thoroughbred to toemongrel cart horse. The' one has speed and endurance at speed ; the latter' has no speed, but great endurance under ■weight or at traction. A couple of laboring camels -worth 12r5d01. apiece, each doing thework of a. pair of horses, will inn an olive crushing mill, on three hour relays, day and . night, for a number of months ; or one will Garry 5001 b. a great number of consecutive hours. They eat little and drink less — actually not so much as a horse. The great delight of the Arab horseman is the fantasiya. The entries contain all manner of horsemen, armed and unarmed, who ride more or less wild figures to more or less mono*tonous drumming music, and who end by the mo^t exoited and exciting pot-pourri of feat riding. They stand in their stirrups and throw their guns in the air, whirl them about in the most approved warlike style, and fire them at intervals in what seems an uncalled for and dangerous fashion. They rear, wheel, kick, buok, rush, stop, turn and twist their horses like so many tumblers, shouting meanwhile, yelling, soreaming. No picture can do justice to the kaleidoscopic terror and wildneea of the scene if there are many riders engaged in it. It is & seething whirlpool of wild, unmeaning, half-merry, half-fanatical excitement, in -which no end of excellent horsemanship comes to the fore. From time to time the riders stop and rank themselves for & rest on one side ; then out come individuals to show what, single, their steeds can do. They pirouette and pinfi'er and dance, and . then make a rush at fnll eallop to, one or other side, Btop suddenly and wheel about,. There ia no speoifio art in what they do'; each man has trained' his horse on his -own untrained' ideas. They have a close seat r dliniring withtheir.heela, and exhibit a great' deal ot stall in their gyratory exercises, butonce seen the f antasiya loses its interest. All semi- wild nations do about the same tricks on. horseback " Harper's Magazine.''