ON " FEATHERS 3 



look at the horse. The Punjabis call them dogar} S'mgan,^ chimtd 

 slngan, qainchl or chaqqar are other names for the defect. Others 

 call it mendhd (a ram), saying, "Buy it not; it will butt you to 

 misfortune.''^ No expert would buy such an animab for ill-luck 

 ever goes with it. 



If the feather is so situated that the ear, pulled down, can reach 

 it, it is a slngan; but if so far below, that the ear pulled down will 

 not reach, it is called dnsTi dhdl. The latter is not a great defect, 

 except in the eyes of Hindus. If there is a feather under the 

 throat, it is called by the Hindus JcantM.^ The Mu gh als, however, 

 call this hamiydii-i zar {" purse of gold "). All alike consider it a 

 lucky mark. The above is the name whether there be one feather 

 or more below the throat. If there is a feather lower down than 

 the hanthl, i.e., on the neck, it is called deo-man^ and is considered 

 lucky. Below that again, on the chest, a feather is called 

 liarddwal : ^ *it is unlucky, and dangerous to life. Shun buying 

 such a horse, unless, indeed, it also possesses a deo-man feather to 

 counteract the bane of the other. 



If the horse has a feather near the top of the fore-arm, the 

 horse is called ''foul-sided'^ [ganda-haghal),^ and all Mughals,'^ 

 except the Qizil-Bash, consider it inauspicious. Others, however, 

 consider the mark indifferent, neither good nor bad. 



A small feather underneath the belly is called gom {" a centi- 

 pede ") by the Mahrattas, and is considered by them unlucky. 

 Other races, however, do not consider it so. 



If the feather on the belly is inside of the girth-place, it is 

 called Ganga-pdt {" width of the Ganges ") ; it is lucky and 

 increases the price of a horse. 



A feather low down on the fore-arm, if it points downward, is 



^ SeJchan in the Zinat^ H-Khayl, probably for Sanskrit shekhar, " crest, 

 top-knot." 



^ Probably connected with the words for " horn." 



^ Kanth, H., "throat," and kanthi "anything worn on the throat." 



* Deo-maw, " divine jewel." 



5 Harddwal (between the forelegs ?), for hardwali, garland ? 



^ In the Zinai^ ^l-Khayl a horse is called ganda-la gh al if it has a 

 feather on the knee, the thigh, the armpit, the yard, or the root of 

 the tail. 



■^ Mughal is in India a name often given to Persians. In Behar it is 

 applied to Kabulis, perhaps because they usually speak Persian. 



1 * 



