THE ARABIAN— THE EAST INDIAN. |«; 



nature are feJt most keenly ; and this was one of them. It was not griet 

 but it was something very nearly approaching to it ; and though 1 kn 

 ashamed of the degree of derangement I sulTered from it, yet it was several 

 days before I could get over the loss. Let it, however, be remembered 

 that the poor animal had been my support and comfort, — nay, I may say, 

 companion, through many a dreary day and night ; — had endured i>oth 

 hunger and thirst in my service ; and was so docile, that he would stand 

 still for hours in the desert while I slept between his legs, his body affordi.\g 

 me the only shelter that could be obtained from the powerful influence of 

 a noon-day sun : — he was yet the fleetest of the fleet, and ever foremost in 

 the chase." 



Our horses would fare badly on the scanty nourishment afforded the 

 Arabian. The mare usually has but one or two meals in twenty-four hours. 

 During the day she is tied to the door of the tent, ready for the Bedouin 

 to spring, at a moment's warning, into the saddle ; or she is turned out be- 

 fore the tent ready saddled, the bridle merely taken off, and so trained that 

 she gallops up immediately at her master's call. At night she receives a 

 little water ; and with her scanty provender of five or six pounds of barley 

 or beans, and sometimes a little straw, she lies down content, in the midst 

 of her masters family. She can, however, endure great fatigue ; she will 

 travel fifty miles witliout stopping ; she has been pushed, on emergency, 

 one hundred and twenty miles, and, occasionally neitlier she nor her rider 

 has tasted food for three whole days. 



To the Arabiah, principally, England is indebted for her improved and 

 now unrivalled breed of horses for the turf, the field, and the road, as will 

 be shown when we presently treat of the English horse.- 



THE EAST INDIAN HORSE. 



We will now travel further eastward, and look at the breeds of horses in 

 our Indian possessions. First, we have the Toorky, originally from a Toor- 

 koman and a Persian, beautiful in his form, graceful in his action, and do- 

 cile in his temper. It is said that, when skilfully managed, the grandeur 

 and stateliness of his carriage are equal to what the warmest imagination 

 can conceive of the horse : his spirit rising as his exertions are required, he 

 exhibits to his beholders an appearance of fury in the performance of his 

 task, yet preserving to his rider the utmost playfulness and gentleness. 



Next comes the Iranee, well limbed, and his joints closely knit, and par- 

 ticularly powerful in the quarters, but with scarcely sufficient spirit, and 

 his ears large and loose. 



The patient and docile Cozakee is deep in the girth, powerful in the fore- 

 arm, but with large head, and sadly cat-hammed ; hardy, and calculated 

 for long journeys and severe service. 



The Mojinni.ss have spirit, beauty, speed, and perseverance. 



The Tazsee is slight, hollow-backed, and, for that reason perhaps, although 

 deficient in strength, and leaving as it were his hind legs behind him, and 

 likewise irritable in temper, yet he is sought after on account of the pecu- 

 liar easiness of his pace. 



A sale of horses near the Company's stud, at Hissar, is thus described 

 6y an excellent judge. "Not less than one thousand horses were shewn. 

 They were all above fourteen hands and a half in height, high-crested, and 

 sheN^y-looking horses. The great defect seemed a want of bone below 



