domain. Living in solitude as I did very much, I discovered how
companionable horses could be. There was no speech between us, but I
knew everything they said and thought and felt, and they knew everything
I said to them. I did not confine my purchases entirely to horses.
I bought a camel and a snow-white donkey, which latter is the most
honourable mount for grand visiting. I also picked up a splendid Persian
cat in the bazars, and I had brought over with me a young pet St.
Bernard dog, two brindle bull-terriers and two of the Yarborough breed,
and I added later a Kurdish pup. I bought three milk goats for the
house, and I had presents of a pet lamb and a _nimr_ (leopard), which
became the idol of the house. The domestic hen-yard was duly stocked
with all kinds of fowls, turkeys, geese, ducks, and guinea-fowls, and in
the garden and on the terrace and the house-top I kept my pigeons. This
collection was my delight. I cannot say that they were a happy family.
After a time I trained them into living together in something like
harmony, but it took a very long time. I added to my family also from
time to time half-famished dogs which I had rescued from the streets, or
ill-treated and broken-down donkeys, which I purchased from some cruel
master. In the course of time it became a truly wonderful gathering.

The animals in the East seem to me to be almost more intelligent than
those at home. They certainly have a way of showing their likes and
dislikes very strongly. When I first came to Damascus, fond though I was
of animals, I found that most of them shied at me. I do not think that
they had been accustomed to an Englishwoman at close quarters. For
instance, I went for a walk one day, and met a small boy leading a donkey
laden with radishes, as high as a small tree. I suppose that I was
strange-looking, for at the sight of me the donkey kicked up his heels
and threw all the radishes about a hundred yards around. The poor little
boy set up a howl. I ran to help him, but the more I tried the more the