On December 9, 1835, Major Eduard von Herbert, then director of the Bábolna stud farm, traveled to Syria “to purchase Arabian stallions and mares.” He returned home with nine stallions and five mares, including the renowned stallion Shagya. In an article, he shares his experiences, insights, and adventures.
On January 10, I sailed from Trieste on the transport brig ‘Cameleonte’; the schooner ‘Fenice’, which was assigned to escort us, was waiting for us in Lissa.
My plan was to land in Beirut, see Emir Beshir’s horses, which were a day’s journey from there, and then, if possible, go from there to Damascus, then along the desert to Aleppo, or sail directly to Alessandrette [Greek name of the city Iskanderun]. However, since the rumor had spread in Trieste that Emir Beshir had been imprisoned, I wanted to first investigate the truth of this rumor in Cyprus, where most ships sailing to the Syrian coast dock anyway. As we approached Cyprus, the ship’s captains announced that the wind was too strong and they dared not anchor off Lanaria, so they sailed off to Alessandrette.
At noon on February 18, we anchored off Alessandrette. I picked up a mule driver who was just present, disembarked on the 19th, set sail on the 20th, and arrived in Aleppo on the 24th. Here, I found the Consul General von Picciotto extremely willing to assist me in the fulfillment of my mission.
In Aleppo, on the occasion of the festivities given by Ibrahim Basha for the governor’s wedding, there was a gathering of all the prominent civil and military figures of Syria, as a result of which many fine horses were at that point; I purchased the stallions Frahan, Kader, Anis, and Abougeras there. Having lost hope of finding anything more in Aleppo, I left on March 14th to visit the cities of Homs, Hama, and Damascus. I left the four stallions in Aleppo with the commoner, Dollac, and my hired groom, in the house and under the supervision of the Consul General. To make matters worse, three days after my departure, the commoner became very ill from sunstroke, so that he had to stay in bed for six weeks. On April 27th, the stallion Abougeras developed encephalitis, from which he died on the 29th. According to the report of a traveling Hanoverian veterinarian who had studied veterinary medicine in Vienna and who had been summoned by the Consul to treat the stallions, this infection was the result of sunstroke.
Two days’ journey from Aleppo, I met the son of Emir Beschir on the road and bought the mare Faride from him. I couldn’t find anything to buy in either Hama or Homs, and I was told to wait until the Bedouin tribes arrived in May.
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