58 THE PEJEVALSKY HOESE. 



" The wild ass, on the contrary, prefers to lie about the foot of 

 mountains. With the rising of the sun, the herd leaves the 

 mountain for the pasture-lands and drinking-places ; and with 

 the setting of the sun, return to the hills where they pass the 

 night. Generally, they prefer hills overgrown with steppe-vegeta- 

 tion ; but they also live on desert plateaux. We also met with 

 groups of onager and Dshiggetai, but could not discover the place 

 where they usually spent the night. 



' The wild horses generally walk one behind the other, especially 

 when avoiding a danger. The onagers and Dshiggetai, on the 

 contrary, crowd togetlier in herds and flee in disorder when startled. 

 From the habit the horses have of walking in a line behind each 

 other, deeply trodden paths are found in the whole district. In 

 places frequented by the onager and Dshiggetai, on the contrary, 

 there is nothing of this nature, except in the valley of the upper 

 course of the Galjtschshou (Chyi-Cho). 



" One of the most certain indications of the presence of the 

 wild horse in a district, is the occurrence of enormous heaps of 

 dung along the paths. From this characteristic, a Mullah 

 remarked that the horses had gone to the drinking-places the day 

 before ; and we confirmed the significance of the indication 

 immediately on our arrival at Gashun. In case of danger, the 

 stallion runs forwards only if the herd contains no foals ; and even 

 then he often runs to the side and shows by his movements an 

 extraordinary disquiet. The onager, on the contrary, is more of 

 an egoist, and distresses himself little about the danger which 

 threatens his harem and the grown-up generation. 



" The onager and Dshiggetai do not neigh, but scream ; and 

 that but seldom. The wild horse, on the other hand, neighs 

 clearly, and the neigh corresponds exactly to that of the domestic 

 horse. In the same way, the snorting of a greatly frightened 

 wild horse reminds one of the like noise of our domestic 

 horse. 



" The Mongolians have made many efforts to tame the wild 

 horse, but in vain ; the horse will not submit to man, is afraid of 

 him, and cannot be rendered serviceable. The capture of the wild 

 horse, as practised by the Mongolians, is a very simple affair. At 

 the time when the mares foal, the Kalmuks betake themselves 

 to the plains with two horses. Having discovered the herd, they 

 follow it until such time as the still weak foals can go no farther. 

 The foals are then taken away and reared in a herd of domestic 

 horses."* 



The statement of G. and M. Grum-Grjimailo regarding the failure 

 * Op. oit. pp. 209-211. 



