648 WILD HORSES. 



at the back of the dock, gives the tail somewhat the appear- 

 ance of the tail of an ass, whose tail has, however, long 

 hairs only at the end of the dock, in the form of a tuft 

 (Fig. 616). The presence of short, coarse hairs on the 

 upper portion of the dock, is often seen in ponies of 

 Northern Europe, such as those of Iceland (Fig. 526). 

 The tail is fairly long, and sometimes comes down to the 

 ground (Fig. 610). The base of the tail of the animal in 

 this illustration differs but little from that of the Iceland 

 pony in" Fig. 526, and of other Northern breeds. 



PTwto 6j] [M. H. H. 



Fig. 612. — Outside view of fore hoof of Prjevalsky's horse. 



Voice. — Prjevalsky's horse neighs in a manner similar 

 to the domestic horse, and does not bray like the ass. 



The Tarpan. — We read in de Simonoff and de 

 Moerder's Races Chevalines, that at present, tarpans are to 

 be found only in the distant steppes of Siberia and Central 

 Asia. Up to the end of the eighteenth century, they 

 abounded not only in these distant countries, but were also 

 present on the grassy steppes of the south-east of Euro- 

 pean Russia. Gmelin {Reise durch Russland) saw them in 

 the province of Voronej between 1733 and 1743. Fifty 

 years ago, a few still remained in the province of Kherson 

 and in the Crimea. One was captured as a foal in the 



