WILD HORSES. 251 



ment it by stating " it is not certain that truly wild horses do not 

 exist." 



Our evidence in elucidation of this matter must, as we have 

 seen, be brought to bear on Central Asia ; unfortunately, it cannot 

 be accepted as conclusive, being based on the statement of travellers, 

 which are in each case that I can find only second-hand and 

 through an interpreter, who possibly was well aware his employer 

 would be very glad to hear there was such a thing as a wild horse. 

 The latest information on this subject apparently is that in Preje- 

 vaUky's Mongolia, from the English edition of which, edited by 

 Yule, we find that Father Hyacinthe, writing of Middle Mongolia, 

 speaks of wild camels, wild mules, wild asses and wild horses. Sir 

 D. Forsyth, in a printed report of his last mission to Kashgar, men- 

 tions, apparently from native information, wild horses mixed with 

 wild camels. These " horses " were probably Kulans (Turki for 

 Kyang) "this equivoque is probably at the bottom of many mentions 

 of wild horses ; but I would not say so positively. " (Yule.) Thus Dr. 

 Bellew in his " Kashmir and Kashgar, " p. 400, speaks of a place 

 called Kulan Uldi, which means "The wild horse (ass ?) died" ; and 

 elsewhere he speaks ofmeetingaherdof six or seven Kulan or Kyang. 

 Jerdon tells us that Cunningham calls the Kyang the wild horse 

 and states that it neighs. Now the Kyang or Kulan is an anima. 

 about which there is much debate as to whether he is a horse or an 

 ass. He his bigger than most asses, has a voice which some obser- 

 vers call a neigh and others a bray, his ears are much smaller than 

 those of most asses. He is described by Prejevalsky as " in 

 appearance closely resembling a mule." His importance to us at 

 present is that we must distinctly understand that he is not here 

 considered a wild horse, and all the statements of travellers 

 who seem to have considered him as such must be excluded from our 

 evidence. It would almost be right, if practicable, to exclude all 

 hearsay evidence, for it seeirfs that in Central Asia the Mongols 

 often confuse the wild ass and the wild horse, and mention the two 

 animals under the same name, just as in some parts of India there 

 is only one name for sheep and goats. The only fairly exact and 

 positive evidence I can find is that of Prejevalsky (p. 169, vol. II.), 

 who says: — "The natives repeatedly told us of the existence of both 

 wild camels and wild horses, and described them fully . . . Wild- 

 Horses, called by the Mongols dzerlikadu, are rare in Western 

 Tsaidam, but more numerous near Lob Nor. They arr> generally in 



