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.
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