Note 23 — THE EBONY HORSE.[1]

Arab. “Hanzal” = coloquintida, an article often mentioned by Arabs in verse and prose; the bright coloured little gourd attracts every eye by its golden glance when travelling through the brown-yellow waste of sand and clay. A favourite purgative (enough for a horse) is made by filling the inside with sour milk which is drunk after a night’s soaking: it is as active as the croton-nut of the Gold Coast.