His great skill in horsemanship was well known. The Arabs were amazed at seeing him with his escort, mounted on an Arab stallion which no one had been able to ride before, clearing every fence, completely subduing the animal, and never drawing rein till every difficulty had been overcome. It used to raise their enthusiasm to the highest pitch, for this was a prowess which they could thoroughly appreciate. It was during Lent that this final inspection was made.
M. de Sonis would never claim the smallest exemption from the fasts ordered by the Church during that season. “I know,” he would say to the missionaries of Laghouat, “that I had sufficient reasons to dispense myself during this fatiguing journey. But I did not want to give the Arabs the occasion to declare that the Mussulmen observed the laws of their religion better than Christian; so I kept the strictest fast—that of one only meal, which I took in the evening.”
General de Sonis by Msgr. Baunard translated by Lady Herbert, London: Art and Book Co. 1891, Pg. 92 & 93.
Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 607
